The Cardinal of Remnant
by PonderingFool
Summary: "I believe that no endeavor that is worthwhile is simple in prospect. If it is right, it will be simple in retrospect." Part 1: The Price of Redemption- It is only human to commit a sin. RWBY is the property of Roosterteeth, I own nothing.
1. Price of Redemption-Reformed

**I'm not going to lie; I have **_**really **_**high hopes for Cardin as a character. There's a possible redemption arc, a valid and presumably tragic reason for hating Faunus, his relationship with the other students it's all just…filled to the brim with potential! So…here's my take on what happens after the Forever Fall, enjoy!**

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><p>"<em>Don't <em>ever _mess with my team- my _friends _ever again."_

The words hung in the air like a thick fog on a winter's morning; cold, relentless and oppressive. Cardin wanted to say something, _anything _that would set the record straight. Something that would make the horrible feelings swirling around in his mind go away. But nothing would come to mind.

He could only watch wordlessly as Jaune, the man he ridiculed and harassed, the man who had _saved his life_ walk away. Of all the feelings that ran through his mind, it was shame that he felt the most vividly. He had thrashed Jaune effortlessly in every dual, he had been accepted into Beacon; one of the finest combat schools in the world and had been not only defeated by _one _Ursa, not only saved by the man he bullied, but he had been left for dead by his teammates and 'supposed' friends.

"_**Where did everything go so wrong?"**_

With nothing left to do, he re-joined the rest of the group. His teammates could barely look at him and when they did, they did so in short and ashamed glances. Teams RWBY and JNPR glared at him with enough poison to down a Nevermore and even Glynda looked at him with disapproval, like a mother scolding an unruly child.

Normally, Cardin would've lashed out at them. Asked them how they could dare look at him like that and put them in their 'rightful' place. But he couldn't muster the indignation or the energy. He just hung at the back of the group and accepted their malice, continuing to wonder how everything had gone so badly in such a short amount of time.

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><p>The ride back to Beacon was morose and sullen. He refused to sit with his teammates and knew that sitting near either of the other teams would see him humiliated and beaten. With no other option, he sat as far away from the others as he could and stared out the window, watching as the scenery flew by.<p>

"_**How could this have happened? How did I screw things up so badly?"**_

His grandmother of all people came to mind as he dwelled on his failure; she was a wise, kindly old woman who never ran short of advice. He remembered the first time she caught him harassing Faunas, how she dragged him back to her house by his ear and scolded him with such ferocity that a Deathstalker would've been cowed by her words.

"_Before you bully someone, imagine how you'll be making them feel!" _he remembered her saying. It seemed like such a silly piece of advice back then. How could he imagine himself as someone else, let alone one of those 'Beastkin' animals!

_"But they're animals grandma, they don't have feelings." _Was his response. Cardin cringed at the thought of those words. They were cold and merciless, even by his standards.

"_**How I'll make them feel… hmm."**_

A silly piece of advice was all it was. But for once, Cardin tried to picture himself as his victims. And what he saw horrified him. He saw Velvet alone and crying in her room, nursing her bruised and swollen ears. He felt the pain Jaune had felt as he was torn away from his friends over the countless spiteful things he'd been forced to do. He shared the experiences of countless victims and found himself hateful and disgusted.

"_**Oh…Oh God, is this what I've been doing to people? Oh God…what have I done?!"**_

"_Passengers, we have now reached our destination. You may disembark."_

Cardin didn't wait for Glynda to dismiss them. He just ran. He ran and ran and ran until he eventually arrived at the showers. Discarding his Armour and throwing his clothes off without any concern for where they landed, he turned the shower on as cold as possible and stood there, trying to combat the waves of nausea that washed over him.

"_**Why? Why would I do those things?"**_

Feeling slightly refreshed but unable to shake the feeling of disgust, he reluctantly stepped out of the shower and put his clothes back on. Feeling emotionally dead on the inside and unable to think, he went for a walk around the school.

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><p>The bully eventually found himself in the library, which, due to the hour, was thankfully empty of all but the most hard-core bibliophiles. Some of his most recent victims hid behind their books, some people moved into a different part of the library; most just cut their eyes at him.<p>

"_**How did I let things get this fa-"**_

He was interrupted from his thoughts by being knocked onto the ground, having been standing to close to the door. Whoever it was took one look, realised that it was the short-tempered and universally reviled Cardin and tried to run.

Unfortunately for him, Cardin was too fast and caught him before he could make it into the maze of bookshelves, Cardin took realised it was Fenestra, a bookish, computer-loving snake-faunus and one of his more frequent victims.

"_**Urgh, disgusting." **_Was all Cardin could think as he looked at his scaly skin and slitted eyes.

"_What do you think you're doing freak? Are you trying to kill me?"_

"_What?! No, I-I-I wa-"_

"_That's what I thought. But still, animals like you need discipline." _The taller boy said while drawing his fist back.

"_No! Please!"_

Fenestra's words cut through Cardin's anger and indignation. Taking one look at the pleading Faunus and his fist, he recoiled in horror, nearly falling tripping over himself in his efforts to get away from the Faunus.

"_Go."_

"_What?"_

"_Go. Just…go."_

Unable to believe his luck, the Cold-Blooded Faunus scampered away as fast as he could. Leaving Cardin behind to stew in fresh waves of nausea and self-loathing.

"_**Why did I do that? I didn't even **_**think! **_**It just happened."**_

Utterly defeated and devoid of hope, Cardin sat at the nearest table and wallowed in self-pity.

"_**It was just instinct! How can I get over something that I do without even thinking?"**_

With nothing left to do, he dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his most beloved keepsake, the pocket edition of "Inspirational Quotes" and began to read. But his heart wasn't in it; he just kept flicking through the pages mindlessly, looking for something that would make him feel better. And he found it; his favorite quote in the entire book.

"_**The first step is always the hardest, but it's the only way to reach the second step."**_

All his life, Cardin had been able to relate to this quote the most. When he started combat school and fell behind the rest of the students, this quote inspired him to pick himself up; he started training outside of school and showed more dedication to the theory work. He couldn't maintain the attitude forever, but it took him from the worst in his class to above average.

On the playground, when Faunus would taunt him about being unable to do all the incredible things they could do with their superior senses and additional appendages, this quote inspired him to stand up for himself, even if he'd taken it to still made them shut up about his supposed 'inferiority'. Everything in his life could be related back to this one quote.

"_**The first step…"**_

It would be easy to just slip back into his bullying habits and ignore the guilt he felt, but would that _really _be a good thing in the long run? Would in not be better to try to fix himself and fail rather than not try at all?

"_**Is always the hardest…"**_

So _what _if they rejected him? So _what _if he'd been a jerk in his past? Was the damage _really _beyond repair?

"_**But it's the only way to reach the second step."**_

"_If that's the case, then I, Cardin Winchester, Will-_

"_Shh!_

The cranky old librarians shushing brought him back to reality. Cardin, now painfully aware that he was standing on the table, sat back down on his chair and tried to cover the luminescent blush spreading across his face.

_I, Cardin Winchester, vow to defeat my habits and be kinder to those around me!" _the thoroughly embarrassed boy whispered to himself. With newfound purpose, he marched over to the entrance and saw someone carrying a large number of textbooks struggling to open the door.

"_**Perfect."**_

Cardin walked over, opened the door and gestured for the young girl to walk through.

"_Be my guest." _He said, trying to suppress the urge to do something cruel and vindictive.

The girl looked as if suspecting a trap but nodded her thanks and walked through.

"_**Wow…that felt…good."**_

With a spring in his step and a warm feeling in his chest, Cardin walked back to his dorm and eased the door open, knowing that his teammates would be fast asleep. Too lazy to change into his pajamas, he merely slid into his bed and went to sleep happy and filled with hopeful thoughts.

Sadly, Cardin was blissfully unaware that people tend to hold grudges against those who have wronged him.

After all, everything has a price and redemption doesn't come cheap.

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><p><strong>So…how was it? Leave a review, let men know what you think and stay classy folks!"<strong>


	2. Price of Redemption-Rejected

**Wow. The reception for this story has just been…amazing! I didn't think Cardin as a protagonist would garner much attention but you guys have been great about this. Thank you, I hope I don't let you down. By the way, this chapter is gonna be setting the mood of the story and showing how the basic plot will progress. Anyway, ON WITH THE SHOW!**

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><p>Cardin awoke the next morning feeling sluggish and emotionally drained from what he went through yesterday. He briefly considered paying some random schmuck a visit and taking it out on them but was remembered last night's change of heart at the last moment.<p>

"_**Right, gotta be nicer to other people. This is gonna suck…"**_

With a loud groan, Cardin sluggishly got out of bed and looked out the window. He'd hoped that it would be sunny, but the clouds outside formed an overcast and heavy rain slammed against his window. The sight was strangely soothing but didn't make him feel any better about what was to come.

"_**Today is…Saturday, right? Or is it Friday?"**_

The bones in Cardin's arm crackled as he reached to grab his Scroll.

**"Ok…yeah, it's Saturday. Whelp, no time like the present."**

Cardin had a quick shower, threw on a white t-shirt and some jeans and was out the door, looking for a scenario in which to play the Good Samaritan. He didn't need to wait long, as he saw someone struggling to carry some books.

"_**How convenient."**_

The student in question looked up and saw Cardin approaching with a friendly look on his face and a smile that looked a little too forced and felt immediately suspicious.

"_What do you want?"_

The former bully looked a little aback by the hostility of his tone, but forced down his indignation and forced another smile.

"_Well, you look like your having a bit of trouble so I want to help. Is…that cool with you?"_

"_What, so you can knock them out of my hands and have a little laugh? Yea-no, I'll be fine."_

"_But I'm trying to help!"_

"_No thanks asshole, I've got it."_

And with those words, the student walked off, leaving behind a bewildered and insulted Cardin.

"_**What is wrong with that guy?! I was only trying to help!"**_

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><p>Cardin wandered the halls of Beacon, believing that the reaction he got from the last guy was just a one-off thing.<p>

"_**The next one will be better…"**_

He heard the sounds of frustrated grunting coming from the gym. On the off chance that someone needed help and wasn't just working out, Cardin opened the door and had to suppress a giggle.

A Bat Faunus had trapped herself under the weights while bench pressing. She'd clearly tried to lift more than she could.

"_**Bench pressing without a watcher? Heh, amateur…"**_

Cardin turned to leave but stopped just shy of the door handle. The girls grunts were becoming more frustrated and desperate with each passing second. Despite his resolution, it still seemed he didn't feel like helping Faunus.

"_**Will I ever get rid of this habit?"**_

He turned and looked at the girl again, she was clearly stuck and on the verge of tears.

"_**Well, I've gotta start somewhere."**_

With heavy reluctance, Cardin walked over to the trapped girl, noticing that she'd put an almost ridiculous amount of weights on the bar. It probably weighed at least a tonne.

"_**This is gonna suck…"**_

The Bat Faunus looked up, saw the face of the 'infamous' Cardin Winchester and felt the blood drain from her face. What did he want from her? Was he going to mock her? Let the whole school know about this incident?

"_Well, let's see if we can't get you out of here."_

Cardin rubbed his hands together, mentally preparing himself for the task ahead.

"_Ok, I'll lift and you try to wriggle your way out once it's high enough."_

With those words, Cardin heaved upwards, the bar bending heavily with the weight. He barely managed to lift it half way up, but it was enough for the Faunus to ease her way out from underneath the near crushing weight.

Cardin laid the weights down on the ground and turned around to see the girl running away from him as fast as she could.

"_You're welcome!"_

She didn't answer; she just kept running out the door and into the hallways. Cardin removed some of the weights from the bar and placed it back onto its holder.

"_**Why that ungrateful little..."**_

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><p>Cardin walked down the hall with a sinking feeling in his chest. He'd thought that changing would help make amends for what he'd done, but nobody trusted him.<p>

"_**Have I really let things get so bad that people would rather fail than accept my help?"**_

Cardin watched the reactions of the other students that he walked past. Some of them looked fearful and others looked at him with as if he was a convicted murderer, all of them gave him a wide berth.

"_**Bastards…"**_

He wanted to lash out, to just grab the nearest person and wail on them for ours on end. He wanted to make every last person in the school recognise what he was doing for them, force them to be grateful.

"_Please stop!"_

"_Ehahaha! What a freak!"_

He stopped and saw his teammates harassing Velvet. The resigned, pained look on the rabbit girls filling him with a perverse joy. The way she shied away and pleaded satiating the hatred stirring within him. He looked at the smiling faces plastered across his 'friends' faces and felt rather envious of the joy they were feeling.

"_**God that looks like fun. But I'm supposed to be kinder…ah what the hell, maybe I'll indulge myself just this once."**_

"_Hey!"_

All four of them turned and looked at the mace-wielder and all of them had a look of fear on their faces. Cardin walked over to the people who had oh-so-willingly abandoned him to die at the hands of an Ursa Major.

"_Oh! H-h-hey Cardin."_

"_Hey."_

"_Look man, we're sorry about what happened in the forest, we didn't mean nuthin' by it. We were just so scared!"  
><em>

"_Can you forgive us?"_

Cardin looked at the cowering trio, at their abashed looks. He knew they were faking it; the bastards weren't even a little ashamed over their actions. They were just a bunch of cowering, worthless little rats concerned only with themselves.

"_**So are you."**_

Cardin shook the thoughts out of his mind. Those thoughts led to somewhere dark, a place Cardin never wanted to go to ever again.

"_**They do **_**seem **_**genuinely remorseful…"**_

"_Ah don't worry about it, water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned."_

The smiles returned to their faces only this time, they looked a little too gleeful. The comparison to rats crept back into his mind.

"_Thanks Cardin ol' buddy ol' pal!" _Russel said in a mocking, light-hearted tone that grated on the leader's nerves. They'd left him for dead; even if he forgave them he shouldn't be joking about such things.

"_So…what are we gonna do with this freak boss?"_

Cardin turned to regard Velvet, a sadistic grin plastered across his face. Velvet looked up to him with resigned, almost pleading eyes that left Cardin stunned. She looked exactly like Fenestra did in the library yesterday.

"_**Oh God! What am I doing?"**_

It had barely been an hour since he'd woken up and he'd already lapsed back into his old habits. The familiar feeling of disgust and self-loathing boiling inside of him, he found himself almost unable to move as he stared into Velvet's eyes, staring at his face reflected in her pupils.

"_**Cowering, worthless little rats concerned with nothing but themselves..."**_

He had to repress the urge to recoil in horror almost as soon as the thought occurred to him.

"_**No, it's not too late. I can still make this work!"**_

The problem was that he'd now scared poor Velvet and had his teammates watching over him. Even if he wanted to change, he wasn't prepared to lose the only people he could begin to consider friends. If he didn't play his cards right, he was screwed.

"_Actually, I need to ask you guys something."_

"_Yeah?"_

"_**Crap, what do I say?"**_

"_Erm…have you guys…_

"_**The history assignment! Perfect!"**_

"_Finished the history assignment? I'd like to compare notes."_

"_Oh God, we haven't even started yet!"_

"_Seriously?! Well what are you doing standing around, go do it!"  
><em>

"_You're right, come on guys!"_

Russel led the other members of team CRDL down the halls, all but sprinting. Cardin wiped his brow in relief before kneeling down alongside Velvet.

"_Don't worry, I'm here to help."_

Much to his annoyance, Velvet keeps looking at him as if he were a Grimm. The hatred and fear in her eyes boring through into his soul. Any other person would've backed away and left her be, but Cardin was stubborn and not willing to take no for an answer.

"_Come on, I'll help you up." _He said while standing up and offering his hand out to Velvet. He vaguely recalled that it was the same gesture Jaune had offered him. Only this time, Velvet moved away from his outstretched hand.

"_What is wrong with you people?! I'm trying to be nicer and you people keep treating me like trash. I swear I'll-"_

Unfortunately for Cardin, he was too busy venting his frustrations to notice that Yang had walked around the corner who, seeing Cardin yelling at Velvet while the later was on the floor curled up against the wall in the fetal position, promptly walked over to them punched Cardin across the hall.*

"_**Urgh, what the hell…"**_

He didn't have time to consider his thoughts before Yang picked him up by his collar.

"_Listen here bub, I'm getting pretty tired of you picking on Faunus."_

"_But I was trying to help her! Velvet, back me up."_

Velvet didn't back him up. She just sat where she was, still giving Cardin that look of fear and hatred.

"_Velvet?"_

Slowly, Velvet stood up and walked away. Perhaps she'd been scared off by Cardin's screaming or maybe it was her form or revenge. Whatever it was, she'd left Cardin to his fate.

"_Yeah, that looks really helpful."_

"_I swear, I was-"_

"_Ms. Xiao Long! What is the meaning of this!"_

"_**Glynda? Oh thank whatever deity exists in our world! She'll sort this out."**_

"_Ms. Goodwitch, I found Cardin bullying Velvet."_

"_Hmm. Mr. Winchester, is this true?"_

"_No, I was trying to help her!"_

Glynda looked mildly annoyed with the conflicting answers. She hated it when students lied.

"_The two of you are dismissed. I'll be talking to Velvet about this."_

Yang released her grip on Cardin's collar while Cardin felt his heart sink into his stomach. If she asked Velvet, she'd probably side with Yang.

"_You two may leave now."_

She didn't need to remind them. They were turning to leave before she even started the sentence.

"_**I am so screwed."**_

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><p>It was just past lunchtime when Cardin was 'summoned' to Glynda's office. The office was neat, organised and spartan. Much like Goodwitch herself.<p>

"_Mr. Winchester. Velvet confirmed that you were indeed trying to help her…"_

Cardin could barely fight the smile of his face; the Faunus hadn't gotten him in trouble after all. It was all he could do to not dance a jig right then and there.

"_However, she also stated that you yelled at her and menaced her with violence. This is unacceptable behaviour. You have a detention on Monday, don't be late."_

"_Wha- But I was-"_

"_No buts Mr. Winchester. You are dismissed."_

He might've been seeing things, but he thought he saw a look in Glynda's eyes; the look that all the students in Beacon gave him; one of contempt and barely concealed hatred.

"_**Great, even the teachers are ganging up on me."**_

With an insulted huff and wounded pride, Cardin stalked out of the teacher's office; brimming with anger and disappointment.

"_**So this is what I get for trying to be nice; abuse and being treated like dirt? Why do I even bother…**_

Cardin felt the same empty feeling from yesterday swelling up within him. Another piece of his grandmother's advice wormed its way inside his mind, despite his reluctance.

"_**Most people quit never knowing how close they were to success."**_

Her advice didn't inspire the same confidence in Cardin that it did yesterday, but he still managed to draw some semblance of strength from it.

"_**Well, Vale wasn't built in a day. I guess I could keep trying. I mean, how bad can it get?"**_

Sadly for Cardin, the worst had only just begun…

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><p><strong>In almost every fanfiction that features team CRDL, they will get beaten up by someone. It's almost a rule of RWBY fanfiction. But imagine how that would make them look from Cardin's perspective, especially in this story; Cardin's just trying to help someone, but because of a mistake in reading the situation, someone just walks up to him and punches him across the room and <strong>_**he **_**of all people get's punished!**

**Anyway, because this story is from Cardin's perspective, RWBY and JNPR are going to be portrayed as antagonistic because, well to Cardin these are people who kick the shit out of him on a daily basis, you wouldn't exactly have a high opinion of them. So I'm sorry if you don't like the way the main cast are portrayed in this story.**


	3. Price of Redemption-Empty

**I'm too tired to think of something to say, let's just jump into it.**

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><p>"<em>This is too damn <em>hard_!"_

Cardin threw his pencil across the room in a fit of frustration. Still bitter from his encounter with Yang and too angry to help anyone, he decided to go back to his dorm and catch up on his work. Forcing Jaune to do it for him had allowed him time to relax, but he knew far too little about his subjects as a result.

"_**Way to ruin everything past-self! Seriously good job!"**_

The study he needed to do was overwhelming. He was three chapters behind everyone else in each respective class and forcing someone to do it for him was right out. He'd dug himself this hole and he would have to fill it in himself.

"_**Why do I even bother?"**_

With the weary sigh of someone who had resigned themself to a horrid fate, he slowly shuffled over to the corner and picked up his pencil, hitting his recently wounded eye on the corner of a drawer as he bent over.

"_**Gah! Perfect! Just what I needed today!**_

Cardin forced the urged to punch the wall down and, blinking back tears, walked back over to his desk, sat back into his chair and flipped through his Grimm Biology book.

"_Dude, how did we forget that history assignment?"_

"_Ah why does it matter, it's only history."_

"_Fair enough."_

The mace-wielder repressed the urge to groan as he recognised the muffled voices of his teammates. Sure enough, the hooligans violently opened the door, laughing wildly at some random joke.

"_Sup Cardin! Thanks for the heads up on the assignment!"_

"_Mmm."_

The minimalistic response was slightly worrying for the trio, but they didn't let it show. Instead, they simply walked over to the drawer and pulled out their scrolls.

"_We were gonna hit the town for the night, you coming bro?"_

"_No."_

"_Why? Whatcha doing?"_

"_Study."_

"_PftHAHAHAHAHA!"  
><em>

Cardin grimaced at his 'friends' laughing. Their laughter reminded him of a pack of hyenas.

"_**You're no better…"**_

The thought wormed its way into his mind almost instantly. This time however, Cardin couldn't simply wish it away. The thought was stuck and he couldn't ignore it.

"_**Have I really changed? Am I really no better?"**_

"_Hey guys, who am I: Erth, 3.14 to the power of pi is approximately equal to infinity divided by the square root of negative 2.5."_

"_Are you…Egghead Cardin?"_

Another round erupted from the trio and pushed Cardin over the edge; the pain from his eye, the frustration from the day's struggles and the tormenting from his supposed teammates had pushed him over the edge.

"_Get out."_

"_Why? Are we interrupting your daily maths session or something?"_

"_Get. _Out._"_

"_Aw come on man, we were just messin' around. We didn't mean it."_

"_GET OUT!"_

The trio stood there in shock, Cardin might've been a bit of a jerk to them before, but they were friends and he'd never raised his voice at them before. The shock lasted a split second before they all but sprinted out the door.

"_Oh wait, I forgot my-"_

"_OUT!" _Cardin bellowed, standing up and whirling around to stare Russel in the eye.

"_Woah, you're eye is messed _up! _You should really go to the nurse."_

"_Thanks for your consideration, now get out."_

Russel didn't need any incentive. He closed the door and Cardin was once more left by himself.

"_**No better than they are…"**_

Cardin tenderly touched the bruised skin around his eye. Pain lanced through his skull instantly and he withdrew his hand almost as quickly, his mind flashing back to that moment in the hall. How Velvet had left him at the mercy of Yang, how the blonde in question had just punched him in the face without knowing what was happening and how Glynda had punished _him _for the whole incident.

"_**Bastards…"**_

The anger that had been building in Cardin since the start of the day had reached it's boiling point. He remembered all to vividly how that girl had run in _fear _after he had helped, how that guy would rather struggle and fail to carry his books than accept his help.

"_**What is wrong with them?!"**_

Cardin screamed in frustration, kicking a trash can into the wall in a futile attempt to vent his anger. The swung the door open as hard as he could and stalked angrily down the hall, heading for the simulations room.

* * *

><p>Cardin pulled his locker opened and pulled out his Mace. He swung the heavy weapon experimentally a few times and, feeling satisfied with the results, stepped into the simulation chamber and hammered in his desired challenge.<p>

"_Arena: Forever Falls. Opponent: Ursa Major. Loading…" _the monotone voice of the simulation droned. Cardin stood perfectly, weapon resting across his shoulders. He watched with mild fascination as the dull grey of the simulation room loaded an image of a tiny clearing in the Forever Falls.

Before he could spend any more time marveling at the power of modern technology, an Ursa Major came crashing through the trees, charging directly at him.

With an aggressive snarl, the hunter-in-training stepped slightly to the side, narrowly avoiding the Ursa's frenzied claw swipe. Gripping his mace with both hands, he swung towards the Grimm in a golf-like fashion, smashing the weapon into the Grimm's side and staggering it.

Cardin didn't give the creature any room to breath however, as he charged into the Grimm, swinging his hammer in a series of strikes with enough force to shatter the creature's exoskeleton.

"_Not so tough now are you? Not so tough when you don't take me by surprise? Come on, FIGHT ME!"_

Cardin swung his mace like a baseball in a particularly vicious swing that sent the Grimm's lower jaw flying into the forest trees. The Ursa collapsed under the flurry of blows and fell onto it's belly, thoroughly defeated.

"_Feh, pathetic."_

And with those words, Cardin swung his Mace down and put the simulation out of it's misery. He watched with mild disappointment as the scenery and corpse of the Grimm dissolved into nothing.

"_Load the simulation again."_

"_Acknowledged, loading…_

The night went on with Cardin slaughtering enough simulated Grimm to fill an entire cemetery. When he was too tired to fight Ursa Major he resorted to regular Ursa and eventually to Beowulfs.

"_Come. On. You. Worthless. Piece. Of. Trash. FIGHT ME!"_

The simulated Beowulfs were currently cowering away from Cardin, who was all but standing on top of their corpses.

"_Fine then, I'll fight you!"_

He charged forward, but his fatigue got the better of him. He blacked out for a split second, long enough for the Beowulf to dig it's claws into his sides. The simulation vanished instantly, much to Cardin's annoyance.

"_Simulation complete. Result: Death."_

"_Run the simulation again…"_

"_Access denied. Curfew begins in 10 minutes."_

Cardin felt slightly shocked by this. He'd been slaughtering fake Grimm for well over two hours if the simulation was to be believed. He'd expected to feel some sort of relief by venting his anger in this manner but now, having finished venting, he merely felt…empty, but somehow still upset over the day's incidents.

"_**No rest for the wicked then."**_

And with that thought, he put his weapon back in its locker and began the long walk back to his dorm.

* * *

><p>Returning to his dorm hadn't been much of a challenge; he was only half way back to his dorm when curfew was enforced, but the former bully had spent long enough breaking curfews to know what he was doing. With practiced ease, he slipped past the hall monitors and sneaked his way down the halls, making nary a whisper of noise.<p>

"_**Looks like all those Assassin's Creed playthrough's are finally paying off."**_

Cardin laughed quietly at his joke and before long finally found himself outside the door to his dorm. He eased the door open, discarded his armour as quietly as possible and flopped onto his bed.

"_Uuuuuh. I've never been happier to sleep."_

"_**And what of your studying?"**_

Cardin's eyes shot open in mild panic. He sat up, stifling a groan and looked over at his desk and the mountain of books and paper that sat on it.

"_**There's no way I can finish all that in one day."**_

Part of Cardin, the side that had gotten him into the current mess that his life had become urged him to just lie down, surely he could just force someone to help him with it when he woke up tomorrow. And although it was a very tempting idea, Cardin knew he couldn't do it. He'd made an oath and he was going to stick to it, come hell or high seas.

"_**You dug yourself this hole, now you have to fill it in."**_

Almost against his will, Cardin found himself standing up and walking over to his desk, lighting a candle and flipping his Grimm Biology book open once more. He took one look at the gigantic pile of notes and books and let out a weary sigh.

"_**Why do I even bother?"**_

However, like every other time, Cardin couldn't think of an answer.

* * *

><p><strong>*Insert sarcastic yet witty commentary about the events of this chapter here*<strong>


	4. Price of Redemption-Pushed Too Far

_**And…done. Finally…"**_

Cardin leaned back into his chair, letting out a sigh of relief at finally being able to relax. It had taken half a day and all night, but he'd done it; he'd caught up on all his work.

"_**What time is it?"**_

He stifled a yawn as he grabbed his scroll and absentmindedly typed in the password, painfully aware of how sunlight burns the eyes after an all-nighter.

"_**8:08. Beautiful. B-e-a-utiful."**_

On one hand, Cardin was so tired that even basic tasks were beginning to feel like a struggle but, on the other hand, breakfast would be starting and if he missed that he'd probably be starving for most of the day. The growling of his stomach made the decision for him.

"_I suppose I'll need to shower then."_

* * *

><p>Cardin let out a sigh of relief as the hot water poured over him, washing away the aches and pains from yesterday's mishaps and abuses.<p>

Abuse. The word stuck too his mind like a bad smell. He raised his arm and gently touched his eye, hoping that the pain would've eased. He was wrong; it was even worse.

The ginger instinctively leapt backwards, smacking the back of his head against the shower wall in the process. He grunted in pain and fought back tears. He likely would've sat there for several minutes if Russel hadn't knocked on the door.

"_You alright Cardin? I heard yelling."_

"_Don't worry mate, It was nothing."_

"_Okay. And would you hurry up? We need to shower too!"_

Cardin's lips curved into a ghost of a smile; at least they managed to somewhat care about him. Regardless of the whole incident with the Ursa, they were his only friends at Beacon.

"_**What happened to hyenas and rats?"**_

As much as he loathed admitting it, whatever dark recess of his mind creating these thoughts had a point; he'd spent most of yesterday thinking of them as lower than scavengers. His only friends and he felt the need to bad-mouth them in his mind. A fresh wave of guilt washed over him, a feeling of shame over his pettiness. How could he claim to be a new person if he couldn't turn the other cheek?

"_**Stupid philosophy crap. Why can't it just be 'do nice things and I'm all good'? Why can't this be easy?"**_

With a weary sigh, Cardin reluctantly turned the shower off and stepped into the cold air, walking over to the sink and looked at his face.

"_**Bloody hell! I look like a mess!**_

His eyes were sunken, bleary from a lack of sleep and red from his tears of pain. However, all of this paled compared to the monstrosity that was his left eye.

"_**She's got one hell of an arm." **_The former bully mused idly.

The skin around the eye had turned blackish-purple and had swollen almost completely shut. It was a wonder that he could see out of it at all.

"_Cardin! Hurry up, would you!" _Russel yelled through the door. However, it was amused yelling and he could hear some laughter coming from the other side.

"_Yeah, yeah. You can have your 'private time' in a minute."_

He heard his other teammates laugh heavily through the door, causing Cardin to smirk at the mental image of Russel blushing heavily from embarrassment.

Feeling much better after a little laugh, Cardin threw on a t-shirt and a pair of board shorts and opened the door.

"_There, done."_

His teammates took one look at his swollen eye and recoiled in horror.

"_Gods, are you okay?!"  
><em>

"_Dude, we need to get you to the nurse."_

"_Bloody hell man, what happened?"_

Cardin smirked again at their reactions.

"_Wow, you really do care. You're not going soft on me are you? Seriously, I'm fine. See you guys at the cafeteria._

* * *

><p>Cardin's temper grew the closer he got to the cafeteria; everyone he saw had an anger-provoking reaction. Some people stared and smirked as if he deserved it, others had the sheer <em>audacity <em>to snicker audibly. The worst were the ones who simply looked down at him with their heads held high and contemptuous glares in their eyes as if they were better than he was.

"_**It's like they're **_**trying **_**to provoke me."**_

By the time the former bully had reached the cafeteria, he'd just about reached boiling point and was ready to thump the next person he saw. Pushing the open doors open far more violently than he intended to, Cardin was embarrassed to see every face in the cafeteria turn to him and laugh at the sight of his eye.

With a vicious snarl, the ginger walked over to the food counter, picked up a tray and dumped whatever food he could get his hands on onto the tray. The frustrated Hunter walked over to his usual spot and sat down, slamming his tray down and drawing a loud yelp from Velvet.

The entire cafeteria went silent as Cardin glared at Velvet aggressively, several of them preparing to step in if things got violent. The Hunter stared at the Rabbit Faunus, looking into her fearful eyes, hoping to find some trace of regret over what happened yesterday.

"_**Nothing but fear. Why? I've tried being nice; I stuck up for her yesterday. What more could she want?"**_

"_Well, well. What do we have here gentlemen?"_

"_**Oh bloody hell…"**_

It was his teammates. Of course, they would show up when Velvet was close to but hadn't quite finished her food.

"_What do you think you're doing freak? This is _our _table."_

"_Th-there aren't any spots left…"_

"_That's your problem, not ours."_

While the discussion was going on, Cardin was in the grips of emotional turmoil. There was no way he would be able to bluff his way out of this one, it was either his teammates or Velvet. The only people who gave a crap about him in the entire school or sticking to his promise of redeeming himself.

"_**It's not fair! I've tried being nice! I've done good things!"**_

But when the ginger looked up and saw them yanking on her ears, the decision was made for him. He needed to do this, no matter what.

"_Stop."_

"_Wait, what?!"_

"_Leave her be guys."_

His friends looked at each other before bursting into laughter, still tugging on Velvet's ears. The ginger felt like his legs had turned to jelly, but he kept his expression straight and free of fear.

"_Wait, you're being serious?"_

"_Yes, now let her go."_

His teammates looked at each other again, this time out of fear and concern rather than humour.

"_What's happening to you, man? First studying all night and now sticking up for this freak. Why are you doing this?" _Sky asked in a worried tone, tugging on Velvet's ears for emphasis.

"_It doesn't matter, just let her go."_

"_Fine. Let's go guys."_

Dove's voice lacked its usual fun-loving and sarcastic tone. He just sounded…defeated. As if he'd just had all the fun and joy sucked out of his life. As if he'd been betrayed.

"_**He was. By you."**_

Cardin ignored the thought and turned to see Velvet walking towards the cafeteria exit.

"_**That sneaky little- that does it."**_

Cardin threw his chair back and went after the Faunus, rage flowing through every fibre of his being. How could she? He'd just driven away his only friends and she'd walked off? Niceness be damned, he was going to get answers.

Before Velvet could open the door, Cardin grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"_What's your deal Velvet?"_

"_Wh-what?"_

"_I'm trying to be nice and you keep blowing me off. What's wrong with you, can't you see I'm trying to help?"_

Everyone in the cafeteria turned to watch the ongoing conflict between them. Jaune stood up to go talk Cardin down but was pulled back into his seat by Pyrrha, telling him to watch how things go.

Cardin however, looked worried; Velvet was angry, not annoyed, not trying to look intimidating, genuinely angry.

"_What's wrong with me? Me? What's wrong with _you_?! Three months Cardin! Three months of bullying and being isolated because people were afraid to be friends with me because of you! Three months of abuse and pain and loneliness and you think that _one _good thing makes up for all that? Do you really think that one _day _of good things can make up for three _months _of loneliness and suffering? Well you're wrong y-you _JERK!_"_

Cardin recoiled as if he'd been slapped. This was the first time in all of their time at Beacon that Velvet had ever said something mean about someone. Even when he tormented her, she just turned the other cheek. The students in the cafeteria burst into a round of applause, happy to have finally seen Cardin be taken down a few pegs.

"_**Is…is she right?"**_

Cardin walked back over to his table and sat down, stirring and playing with his food until it was a mess, thoroughly unrecognisable when compared to what it once was.

"_**What have I been thinking, how did I not see this?"**_

He thought back to yesterday's events and how he'd reacted to everything that happened; how he'd blamed the other students when they had every right to be paranoid and weary, how he'd got on his high-horse the minute he'd made his change.

"_**What is wrong with me? What about everyone else who has to go through this bullshit? It works in books, so why won't it work here?"**_

"_Attention all students, the Weekend classes are now available for anyone who wishes to catch up on work." _Glynda said monotonously over the speaker, causing a large number of students to stand up and exit the cafeteria, leaving Cardin and very few other students alone.

"_**Weekend classes? Hmm…I **_**am **_**still not sure of a few things."**_

And with that thought, Cardin pushed Velvet's words out of his mind for the moment, determined to improve himself. He deposited his abomination of a mess into the trash can and left to join the weekend classes, blissfully unaware of the events that would be kicked into motion as a result.

* * *

><p><strong>Jeez, even in a story <strong>_**about **_**him, Cardin just can't catch a break huh?**


	5. Price of Redemption-The Challenge

**Story time kids! Ok, once upon a time…**

**Just kidding! Here's the new chapter.**

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>Of course. It just had to be this room!" <strong>_Cardin thought, raging internally. He'd finally found where the weekend classes were but they were located in the room with a really squeaky door. There was no way he'd be able to enter discreetly.

The mace-wielder could here Professor Oobleck talking at 90 miles per hour inside accompanied by the sound of him zipping around the room to help each student with their work.

"_**Oh well, here goes nothing."**_

Cardin pushed the door open gently, hoping to avoid making to much noise but to no avail. The former bully cringed heavily as the door creaked as if it hadn't been oiled in decades. Funny how a noise that seemed insignificant could sound so deafening in the right circumstances. The ginger watched with bated breath as everyone in the room glared at him with a mixture of contempt and utter hatred.

"_Ah, Mr. Winchester! What can I do for you?" _Oobleck asked, closing the distance between the two faster than anyone could blink. In his first few days, the Professor's flash stepping would cause him to flinch but now it was just sort of…expected.

"_I'm...uh, here for the weekend classes?_

The ginger heard someone at the back of the class snort.

"_Hmm. Mr. Winchester, why was the Battle of Fort Castle the turning point of the Faunus War?"_

"_Well, it's mostly due to the resources lost in the battle."_

Cardin, to the amazement of the class and Oobleck, launched into a five-minute speech about the loss of the human armies most talented soldiers, many of the more talented recruits, as well as supplies left the human forces with a lack of resources and vulnerable to counterattack.

"_Excellent! Simply excellent! Take a seat Mr. Winchester; we're just starting the theories surrounding some of the rumours of the war_

"_**Bugger…"**_

"_I've only just started that topic."_

"_No matter, the purpose of this class is so that we can aid you. Take a seat, Mr. Winchester I'm here if you need me."_

And with that, Cardin walked over to his seat while Oobleck all but teleported over to a student with their hand raised. Flicking through his history textbook until he reached the page number he was looking for.

"_**Alright, why was General Lagune, an inexperienced general, trusted with so many resources. Hmm…Oh god dammit. Ok let's see, he wasn't exactly a favourite with the government and he was only just promoted…"**_

"_Ok Mr. Winchester, do you need help?"_

"_Yeah, um…I'm not sure why Lagune was trusted so much?"  
><em>

"_Think about his family…"_

"_**Hmm…he had a strong military background."**_

"_Don't think too hard Cardin. You'll hurt yourself."_

Cardin looked over his shoulder to see a tall, dark-haired man wearing jeans, a white shirt and a leather jacket. His name was Marty Sam and Cardin had butted heads with him quite a few times. Cardin viewing him as a violent, whiney, arrogant person who only managed to make friends because he was 'cool' and Marty…well, he thought what everyone else did of Cardin.

"_Piss off! I'm here to learn."_

"_Ooh, feisty. Maybe you should calm down before I teach you some manners."_

"_Enough! Marty, don't provoke him! Cardin, don't take the bait! Now do your work!"_

* * *

><p>The day wore on like this. Marty tormenting Cardin, the mace-wielder biting back and Oobleck stopping the arguments from turning into a brawl right then and there.<p>

"_**The hell is this guys problem?"***_

"_Alright class, it's almost time for lunch! Excellent work today, especially you Cardin. Nice to see you finally taking an interest."_

And with those words, he zipped out of the room immediately. The students took a more relaxed stance and trudged out slowly, chatting idly with their friends. The ginger walked slowly, making sure all of his stuff was in order when he heard footsteps behind him.

"_Do you nee-"_

Cardin didn't get to finish his words before a fist slammed into his nose, sending him reeling. The former bully fought back tears while blood trickled down his throat.

"_What the-"_

He tried to retaliate, but his assailant ducked under and pushed him up against the wall. Cardin looked through bleary eyes and saw the leather jacket and deep purple eyes, knowing instantly who it was.

"_I don't like you, Cardin." _Marty whispered sinisterly into his ear.

"_Racism, stupidity, bullying. It's all I can do to not beat you into the ground right now."_

Cardin took advantage of his close proximity to stamp the heel of his foot into the soft spot of Marty's ankle and shoving him violently into the opposite wall.

"_Gargh! You've got some fight in you. Good, you'll be needing it on Friday."_

"_Why?"  
><em>

"_I've organised a duel with Ms. Goodwitch after last period. I'm gonna make you regret messing with the other students."_

A tiny voice in Cardin's mind told him that this was a bad idea. That he shouldn't go through with it. The pain coursing through his nose and skull quickly overshadowed that voice.

"_Fine, I'll see you then."_

* * *

><p>The rest of the week flew by insanely quick Cardin thought as he took his place on the stage. He scanned the crowd, hoping to find his teammates present. They weren't.<p>

"_**This is the second time they've abandoned me."**_

Taking another look at the crowd, Cardin felt a sense of hopelessness wash over him. Their faces were hateful and twisted in anticipation, not a single friendly face amongst them. He found himself reminded of Velvet's outburst on Sunday.

"_**Do you really think one day of good things makes up for three months of loneliness and suffering?"**_

Three months…

"_**All that time I've been acting like a jerkass and I thought that one sudden change would fix everything? What have I been thinking? How could I think this would work?"**_

He could've sworn that he saw someone was selling mutilated Cardin plushies near the back of the hall. The oddness of the situation almost made him chuckle. He was about to finish his inner monologue when he saw the door open and his teammates walk through.

"_**They…they came?"**_

He saw them hold unravel a large white banner and hold it up, waving it around as if they're life depended on it.

"_**Kick his ass Cardin?"  
><strong>_

The ginger chuckled out loud at his teammates antics. It wasn't exactly subtle but at least it wasn't something so cliché as 'we believe in you'.

"_**Will do guys. Will do."**_

"_Hey! Numnuts!"_

Marty Sam had finally shown up, wielding his dual katanas with guns built into the hilt. It always struck Cardin as unoriginal, considering that everyone and their grandmother wielded a katana at this school.

"_We doing this or what?"_

Cardin took one last look at his friends, finding some amusement in Russel getting knocked out for hitting on some red-headed girl.

"_Damn right."_

Hefting his mace across his shoulder, Cardin and Marty walked into the middle of the arena to were Goodwitch was holding up an aura barrier.

"_This will be a traditional, tournament style dual; no outside assistance and no unsportsmanlike behaviour. Once your opponent's aura hits the red, they are defeated. Understood?"_

The feuding hunters nodded their consent.

"_Very well then." _Glynda said as she backed away as to not be caught in the middle of the fight.

"_Let the match…begin!"_

* * *

><p><strong>Marty Sam is a Marty Stu? No, really? I'd never have guessed.<strong>

**Seriously though, it always bothered me how OC's could do some outright villainous things to Cardin and be treated as right and just. He's bullying someone? Let's give him some hospital-worthy injuries, that'll teach him!**

**Ah well, see ya next time!**


	6. Price of Redemption-Let the match begin!

"_Let the match…begin!"_

Marty dashed forward, slicing with both his Katanas. Cardin however, expected the move and stepped to the side, the katanas slicing through the air where he was standing. Marty took a moment to realise that the ginger was faster than he looked before Cardin's mace slammed into his back, sending him flying and taking out a chunk of his aura.

"_Hell yeah! Show him who's the boss Cardin!"_

Marty stood up on shaky legs, feeling slightly dizzy after taking such a large hit. The rebellious hunter-in-training considered his options and decided that, fast as Cardin was, he was faster. He'd just need to be careful.

With a vicious snarl, sheathed his katanas and drew a pair of machine pistols. Cardin cursed under his breath before crouching down to give him as little to shoot at as possible and covering his head with his armored forearms. The bullets hammered into his armored body parts with his aura deflecting the occasional one that hit his exposed cheeks.

"_**Now!"**_

Marty dashed forward with lightning speed right as the clips in both guns emptied. Cardin was only just beginning to stand up as Marty's knee slammed into his jaw. The mace-wielder barely had time to react to the vicious blow before the katana slices started; the attacks came at him from all directions, giving the ginger barely enough time to process each attack before the next one hit.

Cardin threw out a quick jab aimed at Marty's face; the blow only caused him to flinch but that was all it needed to do. Gripping the mace in a golf-like fashion Cardin swung, putting all of his weight behind the blow and…

Missed. Marty was still too fast for the larger boy and ducked out of the way, the momentum behind Cardin's blow sending him off balance and allowing Marty to deliver a vicious roundhouse kick to the back of his head.

Still gasping in pain, Cardin swung his mace around but missed as Marty flipped away from him, performing several flashy manoeuvres and landing at the opposite end of the stage.

"_**Damn it!"**_

The crowd erupted into cheers as Marty performed an exaggerated bow, chanting various cries from 'go Marty go' to 'cut his head off'. Even now, when he'd been attacked unprovoked and challenged to a pointless fight for no better reason than to satisfy some form of 'justice', they still hounded for his blood.

"_What's the matter, Cardin? Can't keep up?" _the smaller boy asked conceitedly.

"_**Why you little s- no! Stay calm Cardin; don't take the bait. Okay, he's faster than me and he's a better weapon user than I am. What do I have over him?"**_

"_Those muscles aren't a doing you much good now, huh?"_

"_**That's it! That's what I need to do!"**_

Looking over to the display, he saw that his aura was dipping into a yellowish-green whereas Marty was still firmly in the regular green.

"_**Damn, better hope this works…"**_

"_Right, 'cause I totally care about what some dime-a-dozen whiner like you has to say."_

"What!"

"_You heard me. The leather jacket; the whiny attitude, 24/7 brooding. What are you, emo or something?"_

Cardin noticed Marty clenching his teeth and his knuckles go white from gripping his katanas to tightly, tell-tale signs of uncontrollable anger.

"_**Good, my plan's working."**_

"_Seriously though, how did an anime hero reject like you get into this school? Let me guess, you've got an 'evil' older brother and you want revenge? Someone killed your family and you want revenge? You didn't get enough hugs as a kid and you want revenge? I thought Hunters were supposed to be upstanding idols of selflessness, not revenge-junkies-_

"_Shut up! This coming from a racist bastard who abuses those he considers beneath him? You call me what you want, but I'm twice the man you'll ever be!"_

"_Prove it. Ditch the weapons and fight me mano-a-mano!"_

"_**If this doesn't work, I might as well have dug my own grave…"**_

"_Fine! If it'll shut you up then I'll do it!" _the katana wielder screamed, all but foaming at the mouth in rage as he tossed his katanas and pistols to the side.

"_**Thank Monty…" **_Cardin sighed in relief, dropping his mace as he did so.

"_There gonna be scraping you off the floor when I'm done with you!"_ Marty yelled, charging forward with his fist raised and…

Missed. Marty's eyes widened in surprise before Cardin's fist slammed into his cheek and sent him reeling.

"_**What the-?"**_

Marty looked at Cardin in surprise and saw the larger boy take a kick boxer's stance, a determined look in his eye.

"_Heh, slick move. Let's see you dodge this!"_

Marty charged once more, leaping at the armoured ginger with a flurry of blows but, no matter how many times he tried and no matter how fast his attacks, the ginger was untouchable and his counterattacks brutal. A quick jab to the face here, a knee to the kidney there and the odd uppercut to the face. Marty was losing and he knew it.

Growing desperate, he took a wild swing, only to be tripped up and fall on the ground face first. Before he could recuperate, Cardin lifted his leg, twisted it and sat on Marty's back, putting him in a painful leg lock. The smaller boy screamed in pain and frustration, but was unable to break the hold, Cardin was to strong for him to overpower.

"_Mr. Sam, you may surrender if you wish." _Glynda stated, sounding completely indifferent to his pain.

"_No!"_

"_**I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve…" **_Marty though sinisterly as his body beginning to crackle with electricity.

"_Oh shi-"_

Before Cardin could finish his sentence, he was blown across the room by a powerful surge of electricity. His hand shaking as he tried to regain control over his body, he pulled out his scroll and checked their respective aura's, noticing that he was quite a bit ahead of Marty know, he'd just need to play his cards right.

"_**Okay, I just need to-"**_

"_GAH!"  
><em>

Marty's foot slammed down on his lower back, pinning him to the ground.

"_Ehehehe. Credit where credit's due Cardin, you almost had me there. Hell, I might've actually lost if you hadn't gone and forgotten my semblance."  
><em>

The ginger tried to push himself oft the ground, only for the foot to move from his lower back to his head. Marty letting out a sinister chuckle as he ground his heel into Cardin's skull.

"_Not so nice is it? Being belittled and treated like crap in front of a crowd? Now you know what it's like to be treated so poorly by your peers. But then, that's what you get for treating Faunus so badly for no reason."_

No reason. The words rattled around in Cardin's skull. No reason. Visions assaulted his mind; a burning house, a grieving mother, a red painted wolf, a mourning brother. No reason. Cardin had never been so enraged in his entire life. He pushed himself off the ground violently, causing Marty to lose his balance.

Cardin sprinted over to his mace and hefted it over his shoulder before storming back to where Marty was standing up off the ground. The ginger held to mace in a two handed grip over his head and slammed it into his opponents back, flattening him against the floor. Then he hit him again, and again, and again.

"_Mr. Winchester! The match is over!"_

Cardin looked over to the display and noticed that Marty's aura levels were dangerously low, almost at absolute zero. He looked at Marty and say blood seeping through several wounds on his body and, finally, he looked at the crowd and saw there shocked and horrified expressions. He looked at his teammates and saw them staring at him with a mixture of fear, shock and disgust.

The gravity of the situation dawned on him. He felt his knees go weak and lost his grip on his mace, the weapon falling to his side pathetically and then…Cardin did the only thing that made sense to his petrified mind…

He ran.

* * *

><p>"<em>Is he gonna be alright Doc?" <em>Cardin queried, his voice barely above a whisper.

"_His aura shielded him from the more serious injuries, but he's going to be in a coma for a while. A month at least."_

The ginger nodded weakly, looking at Marty Sam's pale, bruised body. He was hooked up to various medical machinery and IV drips. IT was almost like he was on life support. Although, considering the Doc's diagnosis…

"_Marty…I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." _The muscled boy whispered, his voice quivering and his eyes tearing slightly. All this time he'd been trying to fix things and he'd only made them infinitely worse.

The mace-wielder hear the door open and saw teams JNPR and RWBY walk in. He saw Yang's eyes instantly flashed red and charge him, barely being restrained by Ren and Blake, not even blinking as her fist came within a hair's breadth of his face.

"_Yang, I'll handle this." _Jaune said sternly as he crossed the distance between the two. The blonde crossing his arms and staring at Cardin with barely contained fury and contempt.

"_Out."_

"_I didn't- I-I-I just-"_

"_OUT!"_

Cardin flinched at the words. He looked at the other members of Jaune's group; some of them managed to keep their faces expressionless and others freely glared and snarled but one thing remained constant; that hateful, withering look he'd grown accustomed to.

The ginger didn't question or try to make excuses, he just stood up and walk out, feeling their eyes burning holes in the back of his head as he walked out of the room.

"_Mr. Winchester."_

He looked to his right and saw Glynda standing before him, the same look of barely contained disgust in her eyes as well.

"_The headmaster wishes to talk to you. Immediately."_

* * *

><p><strong>Another thing I have a problem with, other characters absolutely butchering Cardin in a fight. Yes, he isn't a combat prodigy like Ruby, but the dude made it into Beacon for a reason! Credit where credit's due people!<strong>

**Also, ya dun goofed Cardin!**

**Lastly, if you have any feedback that could help me with writing fight scenes, that'd be great!  
><strong>


	7. Price of Redemption-Hope and Despair

**So I go to the fanfiction page for RWBY today and notice quite a few new Cardin stories, which is great since their **_**really **_**isn't enough of those. However, since I'm a rather egotistical, glory-hounding sod, I'm going to take the time to say that I inspired this growing trend and declare myself the leader of the 'Cardin isn't an arsehole' parade. Ahem…BROTHERS IN ARMS! A NEW ERA IS COMING! PLAN YOUR PLOTS AND PREPARE YOUR SHIPS TO SET SAIL! FOR TONIGHT-**

* * *

><p>Tick…tock…tick…tock…<p>

The rhythmic clicking of the grandfather clock in Ozpin's office instilled a sense of dread in the mace-wielder. No matter how many times he'd been called in here, the clock never failed to make him feel an odd sense of discomfort. Dove had theorised that this was the point.

Tick…tock…tick…tock…

Cardin dared to look up at the Headmaster, but couldn't hold the gaze for so long before he stared anxiously looking around the room. Ozpin had been teaching for years and had long since mastered a disappointed gaze that could make even the most reckless, disrespectful student feel ashamed. In truth, Cardin would've preferred the hateful gazes of his peers to this.

"_Mr. Winchester…"_

"_Hmm?"  
><em>

"_Do you kno-"_

"_Yes."_

"_Then tell me, what would you do if you were in my position?"_

"_Expulsion sir."_

Ozpin opened his eyes slightly in surprise. Normally, Cardin would be spewing excuses out with his every breath and yet, here he was, suggesting that he be expelled.

"_Mr. Winchester…"_

Cardin didn't even bother recognising the Headmaster this time; he just continued to stare at the ground in shame, waiting for Ozpin to deliver his punishment.

_"Cardin, look at me."_

The ginger looked up in shock; this was the first time Ozpin had ever referred to him by just his first name. Could it be that…Ozpin was going to help him?

"_I have seen far worse people than you achieve redemption. I have seen some truly horrible people attain forgiveness from even their most hateful detractors. If they can find redemption, I'm sure you can as well."_

"_Wait, you know?"_

"_I see more than you'd think Cardin. I've seen that you've truly been trying to change…and I believe that you can."_

Tick…tock…tick…tock

"_It won't be easy Mr. Winchester. The road will be long and difficult; you may find yourself disappointed time and time again…but, if you truly want to change, and you don't give up. I'm sure you will find what you want."_

Despite the Headmaster's daunting words, Cardin couldn't help but feel ecstatic. He'd found someone who didn't hate his guts, someone who actually believed he'd changed.

"_Of course, I still have to punish you. I want a two thousand word essay on what you've done wrong on my desk by next Monday. You are dismissed."_

Cardin gave the Headmaster a determined nod, still grinning from ear to ear in happiness before walking out the door. The ginger couldn't help but jump and click his heels in joy.

"_**I've done it! Someone finally believes me- GAH!"**_

A sharp pain in the back of Cardin's head snapped him out of his thoughts and a large hit to his back knocked him onto the floor.

"_**What the fu-"**_

"This _has been a long time coming…"_

Cardin felt his heart sink into his stomach; of all the people he could've been trapped in the hallway with, it just _had _to be the people with the most reasons to hate his guts.

"_**Marty' teammates huh?"**_

Cardin stood up shakily and glared at his attackers. He saw Marty's brother Gary, a knight-like figure adorned in gold/white armour and a ridiculously large sword across his back. He saw his best friend Shaolin, a man dressed in monk garbs that fought unarmed with a near-extinct martial art and, of course, Marty's girlfriend Eve, an aggressive, slightly stalkerish ninja reptilian Faunus with serious anger issues and a slight prejudice against humans. She reminded Cardin of himself in a way; a way that he couldn't stand.

Nevertheless, Cardin had enough problems to deal with without having to deal with getting in a fight and, with great care to not let any venom seep into his voice, spoke.

"_What's been coming?"_

Another punch from Gary sent him reeling into a nearby wall. Still tired from his fight with Marty and emotionally exhausted, Cardin could barely find the energy to stay standing.

"_You know damn well what's been coming! You treat Faunus like scum, you make our lives at this school and you put my boyfriend in a coma and you act like you don't know what's wrong!"_

Another punch, this time to the stomach caused Cardin to double over in pain and cough uncontrollably. The blows came raining down soon after, time and time again pain coursed through his body.

"_This is wrong."_

"_What?!"_

The punishment stopped, allowing Cardin to draw in a pained breath. His vision was starting to fade and he could barely concentrate through all the pain, but he could still hear the conversation.

"_You heard me, this is wrong."_

"_Are you kidding me?! He made our lives hell; he almost killed Marty! How can you say this is wrong?!"_

"_No matter how bad a man he is, stooping down to his level is no excuse."_

"_I thought you believed in Karma! If we don't do something, he'll get off scot-free! Don't you understand?!"_

"_Hrmph. Do what you think you need to do. Just don't ask me to be a part of it…"_

The echoing of Shaolin's footsteps sent dull feelings of pain through Cardin's head. How badly injured was he that even footsteps that could cause him such discomfort? Nevertheless, all he could do now was wait for the beating to resume.

"_You got lucky this time Cardin, we need to go talk this out with our teammate right now."_

"_You won't be so lucky next time…"_

Again, the footsteps sent dull feelings of pain through Cardin's skull. His breath was ragged and uneven and there wasn't a single spot on his body that wasn't in pain. Cardin noticed the comparison between himself and Eve force it's way to the front of his mind.

"_**So **_**this **_**is what it's like on the receiving end."**_

Despite himself, Cardin couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of the situation. Someone who reminded him of himself had just beaten him into the ground over an accident. If their positions had been reversed, it was almost exactly like what he would do before the Forever Falls incident.

Again, Cardin chuckled at how the ironic the situation was, only stopping when the pain was too great for him to bear.

"_**I don't suppose I could go to sleep right now?"**_

With a reluctant sigh, Cardin stood up, feeling pain lance through every part of his body. Once he'd finally finished pushing himself off the ground, he began to slowly trudge down the hall.

* * *

><p>"<em>Hey guys, I'm bac-"<em>

"_Oh my God! What happened to you?!" _Russel asked, worry seeping into his voice despite his efforts to not show it.

"_I got jumped by Marty's team, I'll be fine. Anyway, wanna go out sometime on the weekend?"  
><em>

His teammates exchanged nervous looks, almost as if they were expecting this question to come up but didn't want to mention what they had to say.

"_Cardin we need to talk…"_

Cardin felt a sickening dread wash over him. The kind of dread that engulfs your very being and infects your mind, causing you to run over every possible scenario.

"_Cardin…you've changed man. It's not just the Faunus, it's everything."_

"_You've been distant at best and downright ignoring us at worst. You've ignored us and manipulated us."_

"_**Manipulated? No, they can't possibly-"**_

"_Yes, we know about that 'history assignment' trick you pulled."_

"_And now, you've gone out and almost killed a guy."_

Russel stepped forward and put a hand on Cardin's shoulder, staring at the ground in shame.

"_I'm sorry man, but I think we should stop hanging out for a while."_

Cardin felt numerous feelings fight for dominance inside his mind. Anger, hatred, sadness, every emotion the ginger could care to name fought for control and yet…the only one he could actually feel was this empty, defeated feeling. Whatever hope Ozpin had given him had been crushed.

"_Yeah…okay."_

His 'friends' offered him weak smiles before leaving the dorm. Left alone with the silence and his own, poisonous thoughts, Cardin could only limp over to his bed and flopped onto his bed.

"_**Nice job idiot. You try to make things better and you alienate everyone in the school **_**and **_**the only friends you had. Good job!"**_

Cardin heard a clap thunder outside his window before heavy rain started hammering against the window just seconds later. The sound of the rain soothed Cardin, driving away the venomous thoughts…for now.

"_**Beatings? Rain? This can't be a good sign…"**_

Cardin rolled over onto his side so he could stare out the window, finding comfort in the lightning and rain. How funny it was that the worst storm the ginger had ever seen could be soothing.

"_**Okay, everyone in this school hates me, I have no friends anymore and I've been moved to the bottom of 'the food chain'."**_

A particularly violent boom of thunder played havoc with his still-aching head. Raising his hands to rub his temple, Cardin sighed, not with weariness, but with sadness and regret.

"_**This…is gonna suck…"**_

* * *

><p><strong>FOR TOO LONG HAVE OUR KIND BEING OPPRESSED BY THE CARDIN-HATERS! BUT NOW? WE SHALL-wait, there isn't a 'Cardin is not an arsehole' parade<strong>. **Oh bloody hell. Okay, when there **_**is **_**a 'Cardin is not an arsehole' parade, I totally call dibs on leader.**

**Alright, that's the end of the first arc on Cardin's redemption and thus, I have a huge A/N to get through:**

**Firstly, I owe you guys an explanation and an apology. My goal for this story (aside from the obvious) was to create a 'shades of grey' morality, where the protagonist is based entirely on whose perspective you view it from. In that Cardin is sympathetic because he's being abused despite having legitimately changed, whereas teams RWBY/JNPR are sympathetic because a well-known douchebag has almost killed their friend ETC ETC ETC. However, some people have stated that other people have come across as a little **_**too **_**hostile, and for that, I apologise; in the future, I will try to make everyone else less arsehole-y (accept for Eve and Gary, I need them to feet the plot )**

**Secondly, I've planned all of the major plot points for the next arc, but I am open to suggestions. So if there's anything in particular that you'd like to see next 'season', then I'd be more than happy to listen and incorporate it into the story if I can make it work.**

**Thirdly, if any of you guys are good drawers/artists/whatever, would it be okay if you guys make a cover image for this story? The face is nice and all, put I'd like something specific though.**

**Whelp, see ya next time!**


	8. Price of Redemption-Aromatherapy

**Whelp, I'm finally back. I might have done it sooner if :**

**-I hadn't fallen for the classic blunder of 'Too much planning, not enough writing'.**

**-If starting the final year of High School WASN'T a total pain in the ass.**

**-And finally (and this is my favourite one), if I hadn't dropped my laptop like an idiot**_**, **_**having not backed up since about three months ago.**

**But you guys didn't come here to listen to me complain, you want to read Cardin fics! So let's get started.**

* * *

><p>Cardin sighed for what must've been the millionth time today, dwelling on the events that brought him to where he was and, for the millionth time that day, cursed his naiveté.<p>

He thought that a few good deeds would make up for months of torment, that playing the Good Samaritan would make them forget the months of misery he put everyone through, especially the Faunus.

'Faunus'. Even know, the thought of them still made him cringe. Despite all his promises and epiphanies, he still felt his stomach turn whenever he thought of them. He hated himself for it, he wished every day that he could be more open-minded, but it seemed that it was 'hard-wired' into him or something along those lines. Cardin stopped that train of thought before it went into an unwanted area; he didn't consider himself one to dwell on the past.

The ginger breathed in deeply, the soothing scent of flowers filling his nostrils and calming him down. He looked around the rooftop; Ozpin told him that growing vegetables, flowers and the like was a relaxing hobby. He thought the headmaster was just full of shit at first, but sitting here now, among the roses, Lilly's and nightshades, he regretted such close-mindedness.

"_**I've been doing a lot of that lately." **_He thought bitterly.

He thought back to when everything went horribly wrong; when he all but crippled Marty in a duel, and right after he vowed to redouble his efforts to be a better person too.

"_**Who said that fate doesn't have a sense of humour." **_He chuckled.

Marty was doing fine now, the Beacon medical staff truly were a cut above the rest when it came to Physical Therapy, but people still hated him more than ever for it, for a while at least. Nowadays, people mostly just ignored him. Nobody talked to him, sat with him, hell; most people didn't even acknowledge his existence. He was just something in the background that people didn't notice. Like an extra in a movie about someone else. He was still undecided on whether this was better or worse.

"_**Whatever, back to this ungodly test of my patience."**_

After the flowers and vegetables were done, Ozpin started recommending other plant related activities. He'd tried that thing where you sculpted bushes into…well, sculptures. After several failed attempts to create something profound and meaningful, he just started making shapes. He tried making a dinner based solely on the vegetables he had grown next, which went significantly better. Cardin had always been a good cook, but he started hiding it since he started combat school, his friends didn't approve of non-manly habits.

"_**Come on you sonova-"**_

Cardin wasn't a patient man and he didn't consider himself particularly smart. He wouldn't lie around scheming and plotting when there was a far simpler, more practical solution available. Namely, hitting them with a hammer until they stopped being a problem. So naturally, getting him into Bonsai was a recipe for disaster.

"_**Or carpal tunnel."**_

Cardin delicately slid the clippers through the gap in the leaves, ignoring the throbbing pain in his wrist. He was a hunter and he refused to be beaten by some stupid tree that didn't even come up to his shins. Cardin couldn't help but imagine himself as some sort of bomb disposal expert. With laser precision, he separated the leaf that bothered him so, breathing out in relief.

Only to immediately destroy three branches while pulling the clippers out. Cardin stared at the tree with contempt.

"_Really? REALLY?!"_

Cardin picked up the current bane of his existence and raised it above his head, prepared to throw it onto the ground. He stared at the plant, analysing the damage and decided that it wasn't worth starting over. He set the tree down on the ledge ground as carefully as he could.

"_Well done. The old Cardin would've hurled it off the ledge." _Ozpin said from behind his book.

Cardin breathed deeply of the aroma around him. It was Ozpin's idea to start all these relaxing activities; said it would help him work off 'excess anger' or something like that as a form of therapy. The mace-wielder thought he was full of it at the time but currently agreed that it was incredibly helpful.

He regarded the tree with disdain, surveying the damage that he had wrought. It would take at least ten minutes to get the tree looking halfway decent again.

"_The new Cardin still might." _He quipped, earning a quiet chuckle from the Headmaster.

Cardin had grown to like him over the last few months, once you got past the firm but fair punishment and worked through the issue of Cardin being a complete arse, he was a great person to talk to. The ginger considered him to be the closest thing to a friend you could get with a teacher.

Ozpin glanced at his watch and widened his eyes in surprise; the book must've been truly captivating if he failed to notice how late it was.

"_Hmm, almost time for curfew. We'd best be heading back now."_

"_Ten more minutes?" _Cardin asked, trying not to sound too desperate.

"_Cardi-"_

"_Please." _The ginger said quietly. This garden of his was the only place he felt at peace, everywhere else filled him with feelings of guilt and loneliness. He felt so _empty _and ill at ease whenever he walked the halls, being completely ignored and feeling like someone was just around the corner, waiting to jump him.

"_Okay, but not a minute longer." _Ozpin said sympathetically, before closing the door behind him.

Cardin stared at the door for a moment, a paranoid sense that someone was waiting for the headmaster to leave so that they could jump him. After three minutes had passed, it was clear that he was properly alone.

Mentally kicking himself for being stupid, Cardin turned back to the Bonsai Tree and began rushing to fix the damage he'd done as best he could.

"_**As if I haven't been doing enough of that already…"**_

* * *

><p><strong>Well that set the stage quite nicely, don't you think? Anyway, I want something to do in my AN's other than try (and fail) to be funny, so my A/N's will now be QNA's! If there's something that you don't quite understand and want to clarify or just want to ask a question for the sake of asking a question, feel free! Put it in a review or a PM and I'll answer it, just don't be stupid about it (Nothing that would be offensive). Later mates!**


	9. Price of Redemption-Wings of Change

**Another chapter? So soon? Is this madness?! Nah, I just feel really bad for not updating in so long. Rest assured most of (if not all) my spare time is going into Fanfics in one way or another. I don't know when the updates will be done and I refuse to commit to a schedule, for fear of not being able to stick to it. Now then, let's do some questions:**

**Now then, questions!:**

**LazyLegionSpark: ****Wondering what parts will he play in this arc? Will he have a impact on things like Pyrrha match (Will it still happen) and the dance among other things. Is Cardin ever going to eventually become buddies with Jaune and sacrifice (Or approach death/near-death) himself for him?** ***Answer first half please if not terribly spoilerific***

**Firstly, story-wise, the dance and match with Pyrrha have already happened, though they will be referenced in story. You know how the rest of team CRDL were working together while Cardin was all 'hurr durr, HULK SMASH' about it? Yeah, now you know why ;)**

**As for the second half? Yeah, pretty spoilerific. Honestly, this Arc is going to go one of two ways, I'm still undecided on which way, but you'll find out eventually.**

**Not that the questions are done, it's chapter time!**

* * *

><p>Russel, Sky and Dove stayed up late, waiting for their leader to return to their dorm. They'd tried to mend bridges, but Cardin was hard to find nowadays and not particularly receptive to forgiving those who had abandoned him when he most needed for the second time. He'd always had anger issues, but they couldn't just write this off as an overreaction; they had nobody to blame but themselves and they knew it. But nevertheless, they used the time that their leader was away to do quite a bit of self-reflection.<p>

Russel came from a rather wealthy background, but, as most teenagers do, he started to rebel against his parents. He shaved his head into a Mohawk, started dressing like a punk and started hanging out with rough crowds to cover up his perceived shame of coming from a privileged home. Naturally, because his 'friends' acted bad, that expected him to act bad and bullying Faunus was something that all the bad kids did. He didn't hate them, but by the time he realised that what he was doing was wrong, he was already in too deep. He didn't hate the Faunus; he just didn't want people to know his 'shameful' secret.

Sky was, no matter how much he hated to admit it, a nerd. He'd been given the standard IQ tests in Combat School and got a result in the upper 130's, he read books at school instead of participating in spot and played D&D with his cousins. Of course, when the other kids found out, the bullying started. They'd steal his stuff, call him names, exclude him last from activities and a few went as far as to beat him up behind the cafeteria. But, sadly, Sky realised that the only way to get rid of the bullies was to give them an easier target, and what target was easier than the Faunus. He hated himself for it, but better them than him…right?

And Dove? Dove just wanted to fit in. Since his family moved to Vale from Atlas, he had completely failed to make any friends at school, not even as little as one acquaintance. The customs in Vale were completely different from Atlas', so it was completely impossible for him to bond with anyone unless they found some common ground. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, Faunus were a near universally accepted target. No matter where you went, you'd find someone who hated the Faunus. He always hated the way he treated Faunus, but what else could he do? He'd rather make a few Faunus miserable for five minutes at a time then go back to feeling lonely.

The day had been very long, however, and the boys were tired. Despite their determination to stay up, they couldn't help but drift off into uneasy, guilt-induced dreams.

* * *

><p>The trio aimlessly wandered around the halls the next day. Classes weren't on for the weekend and they had nothing to do. If Cardin were still with them, they'd probably be harassing some Faunus; no matter how uncomfortable or just plain wrong it was, they had an image to maintain.<p>

So of course, they just had to run into Velvet in the halls. Everybody froze, Velvet out of fear of the incoming torment and the other three because none of them were in the mood to be bullies today and, without Cardin to initiate, it would fall to one of them.

The three of the looked at one another uneasily, waiting for someone to do something that would justify them saying 'at least I didn't start it'. Each of them had hidden behind that excuse more times than they could count and now, one of them would have to bite the bullet.

"_So…" _Sky began, causing his teammates hearts to flutter in relief and Velvet's in fear.

"_Would you like to do the honours Russ?" _he queried, unable to withstand the stares.

Russel cursed under his breath and hesitantly reached out with his hand as Velvet backed up against the wall, trying to something, anything that would vindicate him. Meanwhile, Sky had turned to Dove and began trying to provoke him as well.

"_You wanna hold her down? I'll keep a lookout for teachers."_

"_No thanks!" _He said a little too quickly.

"_I'm too...ah…tired! Yeah, didn't get much sleep last night." _The blonde sputtered, putting on his most convincing fake yawn in the process.

Meanwhile, Russel had grabbed one of Velvet's ears and was trying to fight the fact that what he was doing was wrong, but he could never dispel it out of his mind enough to actually pull. He didn't want to hurt her, but he couldn't let people see who he really was, it would ruin him. However, one look at Velvet's fearful face pushed him over the edge.

"_What are we doing?" _he asked to no one in particular.

Russel let go of Velvet's ear and waved her away, an offer the Rabbit Faunus didn't hesitate to take. She walked away as fast as she could; glancing hesitantly over her back to make sure it wasn't a trick the whole way down.

"_Dude! What the hell!" _Dove asked, secretly glad that it hadn't been him who had to break first.

"_Yeah man what the hell?"_

Russel slumped up against the wall and slid down onto the floor, realising that he'd thrown away years of maintaining his image and living up to his reputation. However, he was equally shocked to realise that he didn't care as much as he thought he would; doing something kind for once and the weight of expectation being lifted off his shoulders made him feel…liberated.

"_Guys…I don't want to do this anymore."_

"_Really?!" _Dove asked hopefully.

"_Oh thank _GOD_!" _Sky all but yelled, their positive reactions surprising and relieving him. The trio spend the next ten minutes exchanging stories, explaining their motives, and planning how to make it up to everyone they'd wronged.

"_I think we need to be careful about our timing." _Sky said thoughtfully.

"_Come again?"_

"_I mean, look what happened to Cardin. He tried to change and they rejected him. Although, I suppose that has more to do with luck than timing."_

It was true; Cardin's anger had gotten the better of him. Perhaps if he weren't too stubborn to seek help for his problems, he would've been more successful.

"_Okay, so how do we go about it?" _Dove asked, stroking an imaginary beard.

"_We wait until something happens. It won't be long until some charity thing happens or some guy starts going on a racist rant or something. We wait until something like that happens and then we try to look like good people."_

"_Eh, fair enough."_

The RDL of team CRDL stood there silently for a few moments; they'd resolved to be better people and to wait for an opportune moment, all they had to do now was find something to do for the rest of the day.

"_So…you played D&D?" _Russel queried, causing Sky to shrink fearfully.

"_Yeah…so?"_

"_Do you have it here?"_

"_Yep…"_

"_Well…I've always been curious about that."_

"_Yeah, me too."_

Sky swelled up with happiness, his eyes filled with barely contained joy.

"_Gentlemen, don your robes and wizard hats and meet me at the dorm in one hour!"_

Russel and Dove barely had enough time to register his change in attitude he sprinted away, mumbling about 'setting ideas' and 'Big Bad Evil Guy's".

* * *

><p>Velvet looked over her shoulder for the hundredth time since she'd been allowed to go without trouble. No matter how much she assured herself that they obviously weren't following, she still couldn't shake the feeling that it was a trick. After confirming that they still weren't following her, she breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking down the halls of Beacon Academy.<p>

Her peaceful walk was interrupted by the sound of grunting and metal hitting flesh not too far from her current location.

"_Hello?" _she called out, her voice echoing down the empty halls. Most people used the weekend to go outside or visit the city. No matter how prestigious Beacon Academy was, most people ended up desensitized to it after living there for awhile.

The sound of heavy footsteps reverberated down the hall to the right; the hurried nature suggested that they were sprinting away. Fearing the worst, Velvet tiptoed around the corner.

Only to find a Cardin slumped up against the wall, bruised and bleeding.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh snap! How will Velvet react? I dunno, for all my planning, I still kinda make things up as I go along.<strong>

**Just in advance, for people who think that Sky, Russel and Dove's reasons for bullying Faunus barely qualify as excuses, think about this: why do children bully each other? When I was in primary school, there were three main reasons bullies bullied; to maintain an image, to fit in and so that they wouldn't be bullied themselves. Their (RDL's) behavior started in childhood and carried through to their teen years because they thought that they HAD to, rather than because it's ingrained in them like Cardin.**

**Secondly, yep other characters are getting screen time! Cardin will still be the focus but hey, it would be kinda dumb of me to have Cardin go on this big self-discovery thing and have his teammates remain assholes, wouldn't it? And some of you commented that RWBY/JNPR/ETC were too harsh, so we're fixing that too.**

**Alright, see ya next time!**


	10. Price of Redemption-In Medias Res

Cardin didn't sleep well at night anymore. That is to say, he didn't sleep at all most days and even when he did it wasn't for more than a few hours. The reason perplexed him as much as it changed; sometimes it was because he was too anxious to sleep, sometimes because he was too distracted by his thoughts and, strangely, sometimes because he was too _tired _to sleep. How that worked was beyond him, but it was frustrating none the less.

_**"Oh well, a****_t l_east I'm up to date with my studies." **_He thought bitterly as he watched the alarm clock strike 3:00 AM from the desk. This was the third day in a row without sleep and he was starting to feel the effects of sleep deprivation. However, he couldn't risk sleeping yet. Not with the Weapon Maintenance test coming up.

The ginger dragged himself away from the desk and shuffled his way into the bathroom. He locked the door behind himself and started running the tap until the sink was full, a ritual in which he was already very familiar.

He opened the cabinet and pulled out a locked box. The mace-wielder pulled the key out of his pocket and unlocked it, finding several vials of ice dust inside. Carefully, he took one out and a fraction of the substance into the water.

"_**This isn't gonna be fun."**_

Taking in a deep breath, Cardin dunked his head under the water. The icy temperatures stung his skin a little, but his eyes felt like they were made of ice. The water always seemed to affect his eyes the most, memories of his disastrous attempts at using fire dust for this purpose flooded his mind. He'd been lucky to not get any scars from that one.

The burning sensation in his chest made him realise that he'd been under the water longer than he'd intended. Damn it. If he kept spacing out like this, he might hurt himself.

He withdrew from the water, gasping for air. He quickly grabbed the towel closest to him, not caring who's it was and wiped his face of vigorously, hoping the friction would restore some sense of feeling to his face.

"_**That was not clever."**_

Cardin threw the towel into the pile of dirty laundry and stared into the mirror, looking for any signs that he might've hurt himself. Although his skin was a little whiter than usual, there didn't seem to be any sort of problem.

"_**Aside from the usual anyway."**_

His eyes were heavily sunken and bleary, resting atop of bags so large they could almost be mistaken for Black Eyes and his once deep, rich auburn hair looked…straw-like? Cardin didn't know how to properly describe it but it looked flat, lifeless even.

"_**Sleep deprivation will do that to ya."**_

At that moment, Cardin was overwhelmed by what a monumental failure the last few months had been. He'd failed to improve as a person, he'd failed at convincing people he was a better person, his grades were in the low B range at best and now he couldn't even sleep! How could sleeping be difficult? All you had to do was lie down and close your eyes until you passed out for Heaven's sake!

He wanted to hit something. He was overcome with the overwhelming urge to punch something in the face. Quickly throwing on some clothes, the hunter ran out of his dorm and through the halls, looking for something he could hit that wouldn't get him in trouble. He lost track of his time as he was consumed by his violent urges until he found himself in the courtyard, surrounded by trees.

"_**Good enough." **_He thought to himself as he stalked over to the tree and punched it, his aura-enhanced strength allowing him to tear a sizeable chunk out of it.

Cardin panted heavily, feeling unnaturally tired now that he vented his rage. Sleepiness aside, he felt much better, though. It reminded him of that one episode of The Sampsons when Hughmar almost died from repressing his anger. A comparison he didn't find even remotely comforting.

* * *

><p>Cardin checked his watch and found, to his surprise, that it was now 5:00 AM. Taking in his surroundings, he found that he'd passed out on a bench next to the tree. He tried to stand up, but his legs turned to jelly underneath him and he face-planted unceremoniously onto the ground.<p>

"_Ow."_

Cardin stood up and felt himself go dizzy. He raised a hand to his head and waited for the feeling to subside before began walking back to the main campus. He passed a few joggers and the like on his way there, a few even bumped into him but they didn't apologise. Hell, they didn't even acknowledge his existence. He might as well be the Beacon Ghost as far as they were concerned. The ginger caught himself wishing that he could be a ghost a few times a day. At least, if he were dead, he wouldn't have to put up with this bullshit.

Remembering that he had an engineering test today, Cardin absentmindedly walked into the Forging rooms, hoping to get some extra practice. It was supposed to be a 'simple' practical; disassembling and then reassembling a gun followed by a thirty-minute test. However, despite the ease of maintenance and lack of delicate work required to fix it, using a mace for a weapon left him with little knowledge on how to work with guns.

"_**Was it room 203?"**_

The teachers told them that they'd be putting the gun they'd use in the test in one of the engineering rooms so that the students could practice. It seemed idiotic to the Mace Wielder to put the _exact _thing they'd have to disassemble up for practice. Hell, why not message the test questions to him while they were at it.

Walking into room 203, he found a number of students standing around the workstations, frantically moving their arms around while timing themselves. It seemed he'd found the right room.

Cardin walked over to one of the empty workstations left over, noticing that the guns the students were working on looked like an older model. How fitting, they'd have no idea what half the parts were. A real test of their skill.

Cardin found himself at the workstation and looked at what he _thought _would be a new object of torture, his eyes widening in happiness.

"_YES! Oh God yes! Thank you!" _he cried out in happiness, kissing the tips of his fingers and raising his hands to the sky in thanks to whatever deity had granted him mercy. The display had drawn attention from everyone standing around him but he didn't care.

It was a standard issue rifle from the Faunus War, almost archaic by modern standards. But Cardin's father had been almost obsessed with the war, and that poured over into weapons. Cardin knew every nook and cranny of this weapon by memory. However, there was one particular nook Cardin had in mind.

Picking up a screwdriver, Cardin turned the gun over and looked for a screw near the barrel, completely out of place and serving almost no function._Almost._ Cardin twisted the tool until the screw was completely removed. He then picked up a smaller screwdriver and stuck it down the hole. A satisfying click told Cardin all he needed to know. He pulled the tool away and watched with joy as the gun fell apart as if dismantled by some form of magic.

"_Woah! How did you do that?"_

Cardin almost ignored the voice out of habit, but eventually turned so fast he gave himself whiplash and saw none other than Ruby Rose, staring at the gun parts with amazement. The hood wearer looked at Cardin with a perplexed look, wondering why he looked so freaked out.

"_What? Do I have something on my face?"_

"_You…your _talking _to me?"_

"_Yeah, why wouldn't I?"_

Cardin was taken aback by her naivety, wasn't he the leper of the school?

"_It's just that…never mind. What did you want?"_

"_I was wondering how you took it apart so quick. I can't do it at all."_

Cardin felt a strange sort of bond with the Scythe-Wielder. Was this the beginning of an odd friendship? Or was he just elated over having another student _willingly _talk to him for the first time in what felt like an eternity. No matter, Cardin wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste.

"_You don't _have _to disassemble it. There's a trick to it. Watch."_

Cardin moved over to Ruby's workbench while the smaller girl took a seat on her stool and watched intently.

"_You see this screw here?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Well, you just get this out and there's a button that you can push."_

"_Uh huh."_

"_And when you do, this happens."_

Once again, Cardin pressed what he had dubbed as a child 'The Magic Button' and watched with a smirk as the gun fell apart, his smirk becoming a full-on smile when he saw Ruby's eyes widen in amazement.

"_Ohmygodhowdidyouknowaboutthat!"_ Ruby all but screamed into Cardin's ear.

"_**My God is she enthusiastic."**_

"_Well, my Dad was super obsessed with the Faunus War and not in the good way. He was a real 'hurr durr, we should never have made peace with those animals' kinda guy."_

"_Makes sense."_

"_Huh?" _what did she mean by that?

"_One of my friends at Signal said that Racism is taught, not learned."_

Cardin winced violently at the words. Ruby realised the faux-pas as soon as the words were out of her mouth, and not wanting to make an enemy out of the ginger, started trying to apologise.

"_Calm down, it's fine." _The mace-wielder said, much to Ruby's relief.

"_Anyway, my Dad brought in an heirloom rifle from his brother's house to show me. He went on and on and on about how to care for it and what not, but then he mentioned a bit of trivia."_

Ruby tilted her head sideways in curiosity.

"_You see, the Faunus were forced to use primitive weapon like axes, bows and the like, so when they started getting their hands on guns, the military started getting nervous. So, they put this button in so that when a battle started goin' south, the soldiers could turn a gun into gun parts since most Faunus didn't have the technical know-how to put 'em back together."_

Ruby's mouth formed a quiet 'O' in understanding. Cardin turned and looked at the disassembled gun parts.

"_Oh man, let me tell ya. Knowing this gun is gonna be the prac part. Heh, greatest thing since strawberries."_

Ruby perked up in excitement.

"_You like strawberries?!"_

"_Ahahaha, growing up with my mother it wasn't a question of _if_ you like strawberries, but how _much _you like strawberries. She had literally _half _our backyard walled of for growing them. I still carry around a pack with me."_

Cardin opened up a pouch on his belt that he made a point to take with him everywhere he went and pulled out a container of Strawberries. He religiously opened the clasp on it and put one of the delicious fruits in his mouth while Ruby all but salivated on the rest of them.

"_Can I have one?"_

"_No, my strawberries!" _He said while pulling the container to his chest and hunching over it, a playful smirk on his face.

"_Will see about that, I have the ultimate begging face! Nothing can resist me!"_

"_Oh yeah, well I grew up with three baby cousins, I've developed the _ultimate _begging face counter."_

"_Is that so?"_

"_Yep."_

The two stared at each other, both of them with a look of smug confidence on their faces. Ruby turned around and began practicing the face in the reflection of her scroll. Once she reached the desired mixture of both cute and pitiful, she whirled around…

Only to see Cardin with his head turned, staring into the distance.

"_What are you doing?"_

"_Nothing, I just never realised how interesting that wall is." _He said, barely managing to keep a straight face.

"_Is that so…"_

Ruby activated her semblance, using the opportunity to get as close to Cardin's face as she could without actually touching him. Cardin simply stood up in response. Growling, Ruby grabbed his face and forced him to look at her, pouting her lips as much as humanly possible, only for Cardin to close his eyes. He laughed when he heard Ruby make a strangled noise of frustration.

"_See? Ultimate strategy, as long as I don't look, you can't do anything."_

Ruby let go of his face and scratched at her chin, narrowing her eyes as Cardin popped another strawberry in his mouth.

"_Oh, this is _soooo _good. If only I had a short, silver-eyed girl to share them with." _He said mockingly.

Ruby took that moment to try and grab the container out of his hands, but Cardin simply raised the container above his head. Ruby jumped as high as she could but barely managed to even touch his elbows. Cardin lazily reached up and grabbed another strawberry and pretended to hand it to Ruby, only to but it in his mouth as she reached for it.

"_Oh man, this must be the best strawberries in the world."_

Ruby made a miserable sound and stared at the ground dejectedly. Cardin didn't know if it was another trick or if he'd really gone too far. He decided not to risk it.

"_Just kidding, take as many as you wa-"_

The ginger didn't even get to finish the sentence as Ruby pounced on his hand, all but inhaling the remaining fruits, leaving an empty container in his hand.

"_You know, when I said 'take as many as you want' I didn't mea-"_

"_Too late." _She said innocently, followed by a very unladylike belch. Cardin laughed heartily while Ruby blushed and pulled her hood over her head.

"_Hey, can I borrow someone's…whadyacallit, little screwdriver." _A meek-looking pig faunus ask. Ruby saw an uncomfortable look pass over Cardin's face before he grabbed the screwdriver off of his desk.

"_Yeah, here. Catch."_

The Faunus caught the screwdriver but, seeing who gave it to him, turned around and kept on working, not even bothering to say thanks.

"_**Not that I blame him."**_

"_Wow, you didn't even call him a swine or anything!" _Ruby said in mild shock.

"_Yeah, I've been trying to do less of that lately." _He said sadly. Ruby stared at Cardin intently, not sure how to proceed, trying to find the right words for this situation.

* * *

><p>"<em>You know, you're actually a pretty good guy. Apart from the Faunus thing."<em>

Cardin froze in place, struggling to comprehend what he just heard. For a moment, Ruby thought she'd somehow offended him.

"_You…you really think so?"_

"_Yeah. I do."_

"_I've got to go, see ya around."_

Cardin walked as calmly as possible out of the room and closed the door behind him. He then promptly sprinted down the hall jumped as high as he could and clicked his heels together mid-air, yelling out of joy.

"_**She thinks I'm a decent guy!"**_

This was the first good thing that had ever happened to Cardin in awhile, he felt ecstatic, invincible even! Nothing could ruin his mood now.

He kept sprinting down the hall, only to get punched in the face as he rounded a corner and shoved up against the wall.

"_We've been looking for you, Cardin!" _Eve spat bitterly.

"_**Except for these assholes…"**_

* * *

><p><strong>Now I COULD have kept going, easily in fact. I was in the zone while writing this. But I've decided to be a total tease instead. How unfortunate ;)<strong>


	11. Price of Redemption-Stubbornness

**Well it's about friggin' time, ain't it? Ah well. Anyway, have a good New Year guys!**

* * *

><p>An overwhelming sense of agony surged through Cardin's ribs as Eve slammed him into the wall behind him as hard as she could. The reptilian Faunus leaning to the left to dodge the spray of blood Cardin coughed up.<p>

"_Marty fell down the stairs today. Couldn't stand upright due to chest pains." _She spat venomously.

Cardin tried not to blame her for what she was doing. During his time with Ozpin, he'd been able to look through her school file, hoping to find something that he could use to blackmail her into staying the hell away from him. What he found was 'a history of psychological problems and uncontrollable anger as a result of years of abuse'. She had, of course, been prescribed medicine so that she wouldn't be a danger to everyone around her. But ever since that mysterious fire swept through the medical wing on the night of the dance, she'd undoubtedly been forced to go cold turkey.

"_**And I **_**am **_**to blame for Marty's injuries." **_Cardin thought sadly. So Cardin tried to take the punishment in stride, accepting that he was to blame and trying to forgive Eve for the injuries.

"_Yes, and I'm sure the stairs are _very _sorry for what they did."_

'Tried and trying' being the key words. It was hard to be forgiving and understanding when _he_ was the one being punched in the face.

_***CRUNCH**__*****_

"_**Speaking of getting punched in the face…"**_

"_Shut your mouth you racist worm!" _She screamed in his face.

"_Uh Eve, I think he's had enough." _Gary whispered quietly.

At the start of this routine, Gary had been happy to jump in on the action, beating Cardin into the ground in the name of justice. But as time went by and Eve became more and more violent, he started showing up for the sake of making sure Eve didn't kill him.

Of course, he didn't actually _stop _Eve, for fear of winding up on the receiving end himself.

"_Shut up Gary!" _she yelled before kicking Cardin's legs out from underneath him.

Cardin was gasping for breath at this point, the pain in his ribs having gotten so bad that he felt like he couldn't breathe. Well, either that or the blood in his throat was actually stopping him from breathing.

_***CRACK**__*****_

Eve leaned her hands against the wall and delivered a brutal kick to Cardin's unprotected stomach.

"_**What I'd give to have my armour right now…"**_

_***CRUNCH***_

Another kick, harder this time. Eve didn't stop there however but kept kicking and kicking over and over and over again.

"_Eve, you can stop now."_

Eve didn't answer; she just kept kicking.

"_Eve, you're going to kill him!"_

Eve didn't hear him, she was too consumed by hatred to notice anything right now other than the feeling of her foot making contact with Cardin's torso.

"_Eve!" _Gary bellowed, forcefully pulling here away from the near catatonic ginger. The snake-faunus almost punched him in the face before the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall.

"_Hello?"_

The duo's eyes widened in fear. If they were seen anywhere _near _Cardin in this condition, they might as well leave the school and never return. They sprinted away as fast as their legs could carry him, Gary only pausing for a second to make sure that their victim hadn't bled out before leaving.

Cardin for his part spasmed and convulsed in pain, the waves of agony rippling through every fibre of his being for what felt like an eternity. To Cardin's relief, he felt a warm, soothing feeling wash over him. It was the most wonderful feeling, like soaking in a hot bath with sore muscles.

The ginger cracked his eyes open out of curiosity, but could only make out a vaguely female form resting her hands on his ribs. Using her Aura to heal him no doubt. He tried to rise, but his 'saviour' gently pushed him back down.

"_Shh. You need to rest."_

Cardin could've sworn he recognised the voice, but he was too sore to place it. Instead, he simply closed his eyes and drifted into unconsciousness.

Velvet looked over Cardin with fear in her eyes. Whoever did this to him was either extremely violent or didn't know their own strength. Even with all her skill, she might not be able to heal him.

"_**No! Don't think like that, just focus."**_

Healing or no, a lot of these injuries would need proper medical treatment. But whether or not he'd be able to make it there without her help was another question. So Velvet continued to channel her aura, treating his injuries as best she could.

"_**Okay, cuts are sealed."**_

With the immediate bleeding staunched, Velvet rolled the larger boy onto his side and started stroking his throat, trying to induce vomiting to clear his throat of blood. Luckily, she remembered to face him away from her. Unluckily, she still managed to get some of it on her fingers.

"_**Eww, gross!" **_she screamed internally, wiping the mixture of blood and strawberries against the wall.

Now that she was sure he wouldn't choke to death, she draped Cardin's arm over her shoulder and began walking down the hall towards the medical ward. After all, despite all he'd put her through she couldn't in good conscience leave him to his own devices.

"_**Hang on Cardin, you'll get the help you need."**_

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>I am the pen, the pen is me…" <strong>_Ruby thought, trying to enter Zen mode and awaken her inner inelec-inteller-inetig…person who was really smart and passed tests and stuff.

"_**The pen is not a pen, it is an extension of myself…somehow."**_

Thanks to Cardin's trick, she'd managed to successfully disassemble and reassemble the gun in around 2 minutes, while everyone else had 'lost their ability to even' in the immortal words of Yang. Some gazed at her in astonishment, wondering if she was secretly the God of Smithing while others bitterly accused her of cheating under their breath. Ruby for her part was indifferent, as she was finally getting her mojo going.

"_**With this pen, I shall smite the terrible and evil beast know as the 'theory test' and shall be celebrated…"**_

She hadn't seen Cardin enter the room, which was somewhat disappointing. She wanted to thank him for essentially giving her the key to success on a silver platter for this test. Ah well, maybe later.

"_**The pen will fill my answer spaces with answers. The pen is love, the pen is life…"**_

And with that thought, she started writing. The test may have been daunting, but with the secret of inner peace on her side, Ruby was invincible. She was on fire, there might as well have been cartoony smoke coming out of her ears while she set the pen on fire with sheer friction.

Before the silver-eyed girl knew it, she was done. Ruby set the pen down religiously next to her paper, flattening her hands together and bowing as far as she could without slamming her forehead against the table.

"_**Thank you Pen-Sensei." **_She whispered reverently…

Only to hit the funny bone in her knee against the edge of her table as she stood up. Doubling over instantly, the fifteen year old clutched at the sensitive spot on her knee and tried to stifle a yelp, only to have it come out as less of a cry in pain and more of the sound a dying cat would make while fighting a beached whale, drawing numerous odd looks from the people at their work benches.

"_**Owowowowowow!"**_

"_Are you quite alright Ms. Rose? _The teacher asked, raising his eyebrows in amusement.

"_Yeah, I'm fine."_

Satisfied with her response, the professor started walking off.

"_Wait, Professor Asimov?"  
><em>

"_Hmm?"  
><em>

"_I'm done." _The silver-eyed girl said shyly, worried that Asimov would think she was cheating. Asimov plucked the paper from Ruby's hands and flicked through the pages, unable to believe she'd finished so early.

"_Already? Damn, and I thought I was being clever with this old rifle trick. Ah well, good job Ms. Rose. You can leave early."_

Hardly a second had passed after Asimov finished the sentence before Ruby has rushed out of the room, leaving a trail of rose petals behind her.

"_**Oh yeah! Who da boss? Who da boss?"**_

"_I'm the boss!" _she yelled as she barged into her dorm room and began changing into her regular outfit in preparation for Combat Training with Glynda.

"_**And it's all thanks to Cardin. Who would'a thought?"**_

If someone had told Ruby that she'd owe it to Cardin that she'd pass the test, she'd probably would've looked at them funny and said 'but isn't he a jerk or something?' To say they were friends would be a little presumptuous, but who knows? Anyone who gave her strawberries couldn't be too bad.

"_**I should give him something. Do we have any strawberry cupcakes left?"**_

Making her way over to the mini-fridge Yang bought, she opened it up and sifted through the various sodas, fruits and canned tuna to find that there were indeed two cupcakes left.

"_**Perfect." **_She thought, grabbing both of them and leaving her dorm to take advantage of the time between classes.

"_**This is gonna be great, we can be strawberry buddies! We're gonna eat strawberries and talk about weapons and-oh, I ate both of them. Dang."**_

Suddenly in dire need of some cupcakes, Ruby started sprinting to the cafeteria, hoping that there might be some leftover desserts might have survived breakfast.

"_**Actually, he wasn't in class. I wonder where he is?"**_

* * *

><p>One day, while browsing through the Internet, Cardin stumbled on a that said something along the lines of 'the only antidote to mental suffering is physical pain'. As far as Cardin was concerned, that person could die a horrible, fire related death. With his every nerve in his body above the waist seemingly on fire, made worse by even the tiniest movements, Cardin had no choice but to lie perfectly still and retreat into his mind.<p>

"_**Yep, great cure man, I feel so healed man."**_

"_You've got a visitor, Mr. Winchester._

Cardin eased his neck off the pillow as slowly as he possibly could and made saw Ozpin standing at the door, his face a mask of serenity. The nurse quietly excused herself and the ginger slumped back down against the bed.

"_I don't suppose you'd believe me if I told ya I fell down the stairs."_

"_You'd have better luck telling me a wizard did it."_

Both of them chuckled heartily before started coughing and gasping in pain. Ozpin's eyes narrowed in concern while Cardin's breaths became short and ragged.

"_This is the third time this month Cardin, you can't expect me to keep looking the other way."_

"_Damn, I was hoping yo-_

"_Cardin…who did this to you?"_

Cardin stared out the window absentmindedly; nobody likes a snitch after all.

"_Nurse? Would you like to inform Cardin of the extent of his injuries."_

"_Um, it was pretty bad…you had three cracked ribs and your heart was pressed up against your ribcage. It was swelling pretty badly and your blood pressure was through the roof. You…probably would've died if Ms. Scarlatina hadn't dropped you off."_

"_**Wait…Velvet?"**_

"_So are you going to tell me now that you realise how serious this is."_

Unfortunately for the Headmaster, the question was in one ear and out the other, the question barely even registered in Cardin's mind. Ozpin waited for a response but gave up with a tired sigh.

"_Keep me informed of his condition." _The beleaguered headmaster said before walking out of the room, leaving Cardin alone with his thoughts.

* * *

><p><strong>The plot thickens?! For, what, the third chapter in a row? Honestly, it's like cold soup at this point…don't worry, we're about to move past demonstrating how much Cardin's life sucks ass.<strong>


	12. Price of Redemption-Teasing

Cardin liked to consider himself a 'disciplined' person. Well, not in behaviour but in self-control. Master your mind; master your body and all that pseudo-philosophical stuff. He enjoyed testing himself, trying to resist a temptation or two for the sake of 'training' himself. After all, even an asshole can find his Inner Zen if he tries hard enough. What was the current temptation? Only the greatest one he'd ever faced.

"**_I. Do _****not. ****_Need to go to the bathroom."_**

His legs were incredibly sore…somehow. He'd been getting aches all over his body ever since the whole shebang with him almost killing Marty started, but his legs were particularly agitated today.

"**_I am the master of my own bladder."_**

It was quite the tough choice it was; he could either sit here with an uncomfortable stomach or tolerate the painful walk towards the bathroom. However, he'd need to get up eventually.

"**_God damn it…this doesn't count."_**

So Cardin gave into the temptation and went to the bathroom. Already in the room, Cardin decided to go about the rest of his morning routines, hoping that a hot shower would wash the pain away. When half an hour of standing in the shower did nothing to ease his aching muscles, he turned the shower off and started drying himself.

"**_What's that Cardin? Catch a break? Never heard of it! Have some muscle pains instead!"_**

He caught sight of himself in the mirror and groaned. He'd been losing a lot of weight recently; he was just as muscular as ever, but the lack of food, sleep and excessive exercise had cost him a fair amount of body fat.

"**_I need to start eating again; appetite or no."_**

Cardin through on a blue t-shirt and some blue/black board shorts and bemoaned the fact that he'd gone down another size. He walked out of the door and cracked his knuckles and the vertebrae in his neck.

"_Eww, gross!" _an absurdly young voice yelled. He briefly wondered who it could be before mentally slapping himself for being an idiot. This was a private room that Ozpin had assigned him out of concern that his assailants would take another crack at him and, with the whole private room thing in mind, there was only one person who would be visiting him right now.

"_If I don't stop, will you keep stealing my strawberries?"_

"_Like you could stop me~" _Ruby said playfully. Cardin shuffled slowly over to the chair beside the younger girl, his awkward pose not going unnoticed.

"_What's up with you?"_

"_Muscle pains. I've been getting them a lot recently."_

"_Really? I could get you a massage?"_

Cardin felt his heart stop cold for a second, but refused to let it show. Master of Mind and all that. As much as Cardin would confess that Ruby was attractive in a cute and adorable way, he enjoyed not having facial deformities and not getting shot in the face too much to do anything about it.

"_I'm sorry, what?"_

"_I could get Jaune to give you a massage. He's really good at them."_

"_Is he?"_

"_Yeah, my team and JNPR got into a fight about who got to have them and when."_

"_Well that does sound appealing, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Jauney-boy might not agree."_

"_Why?"_

"_Um, you know, the whole 'I'm a blackmailing douc- erm, jerk...thing."_

Ruby looked somewhat saddened by Cardin's self-deprecation but decided that the best thing she could do was try to cheer him up. She reached into the backpack that she brought with her and pulled out two gigantic containers of strawberries and handed one to Cardin, who accepted eagerly.

"_Wow, thanks! Now you don't have to steal mine." _Cardin said sarcastically, earning him a playful slap on the arm. The two sat there and ate their strawberries in contemplative silence.

"_You're not a jerk you know."_

"_What?"_

"_You're not a jerk."_

"_What's that? I can't hear you~" _Cardin said, his mouth twitching upward out of barely contained laughter.

"_YOU. ARE. NOT. A-"_

"_Relax, I can hear just fine, it just makes me feel better to hear someone else say it."_

"_Oh…"_

Ruby, upon realising that she had demolished her strawberries in record time, tried to steal a few out of Cardin's container. The ginger caught her by the wrist and gave her an amused look before giving her the entire container, mumbling under his breath about 'not being hungry' and then cursing himself for not 'sticking to his promise'.

"_We should do something." _Ruby said suddenly.

"_M'kay, what do ya have in mind?"_

"_I dunno, we could go for a walk or something."_

"_Can't. They won't let me out for another day or so."_

"_Hmm…how about a card game?"_

"_Sounds good, what do you wanna play?"_

"_Texas Hold 'em."_

"_Alright, but I'm warning you; I happen to be pretty good at Poker." _The Mace-wielder said smugly.

* * *

><p>"<em>Un. Freaking. Believable."<em>

If you told Cardin last night that he'd be getting his arse kicked in Texas Hold 'Em by _Ruby Rose _of all people…well, he'd probably believe you. After all, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing that had happened to him during his time at Beacon, but it was still no less humiliating.

"_What's the matter Cardin? Can't handle getting beaten by a girl~" _Ruby teased in a sing-song tone.

"_No, the girl part I can handle. It's the whole losing to a fifteen-year-old that gives me grief. How did you even get this good?!"_

"_Eh, Yang taught me how to play. With her, you either get good or get wrecked."_

Cardin opened his mouth to debate, but considering Yang's incredibly aggressive fighting style, he wouldn't be surprised if she was that aggressive in other areas as well.

"**_Hehehe-NO! Friggin' hormones…"_**

"_So do you get out tomorrow?"_

"_Yep."_

"_You should hang out with me and Jaune tomorrow!"_

Cardin cringed at the thought of being in near proximity to the blonde, especially after their last 'conversation' that didn't exactly go well. His discomfort didn't go unnoticed by Ruby however, and the girl pouted.

"_Aw, c'mon! It'll be fun I promise! Cross my heart and hope to die!"_

"_Hmm…fine, but it's your fault if I end up getting pushed in front of a car or something."_

"_Deal." _Ruby said, confidently shaking the larger boy's hand.

"_Whelp, I better get going. Wouldn't want to take any more of your dignity." _The dark-haired girl said, walking out of the room before Cardin could fire off a retort.

"**_Damn, and I had a really good hand to…"_**

The blue-eyed boy leaned back in his chair, sighing contentedly. Oddly enough, he didn't feel all that nervous about meeting Jaune tomorrow, now that he had Ruby's word nothing bad would happen.

"**_What time is i-1:30! Really!"_**

The ginger had good reason to be surprised, this was the first time he'd gone from waking up to lunch without a single overwhelmingly depressing thought in an unhealthily long time.

"**_Yeah, I have a good feeling about tomorrow."_**

* * *

><p><strong>Is it a chapter? Yes. Is it long enough when taking into account the length of time between this and the last one? God no. Ah well, consider this a build-up to the next, hopefully longer one.<strong>

**By the way, am I handling the humour correctly? I'm trying to make the story somewhat light-hearted despite the depressing premise and I want to know if I'm doing fine.**


	13. Price of Redemption-Hit the Town

**SURPRISE! Bet you weren't expecting me to update so soon, we're you?! Just goes to show, always expect the unexpected…unless you expect me to update quickly and consistently, in which case you'd be an idiot :P**

**On a more serious note, I'm about to start my last year of High School so I'm going to be SUPER busy. I'll try to update every two weeks or so, but the chapters are going to be really short for a while, sorry.**

**The last thing I need to mention is, well, holy crap guys we did it! 100 reviews/favourites/followers! I was honest to God expecting this to be a niche story, but this…I have no words, I can't articulate how amazing you guys are! I'll try my best to not ruin the story for you XD**

* * *

><p>Cardin narrowed his eyes at his wardrobe, taking to heart the ideology that a tall, muscular, scary looking person staring at a problem long enough would force said problem to either run away for fear of getting punched in the face or that your guy wasn't big, muscly or scary looking enough. It was little wonder that at the age of fifteen Cardin was already working a part-time job as a bouncer at some nightclub on the shady side of town. All Cardin had to do was mention that he was currently going through a combat school and most people backed off instantly. Of course, there was always the odd jackass who Cardin felt tempted to smack upside the head with his mace even without the promise of a paycheck. But considering that in hindsight Cardin was akin to those jackasses in more ways than one, he didn't feel like complaining about it.<p>

Naturally, such tactics didn't have any effect on a wardrobe, so Cardin's attempts to burn a hole in it with his gaze was a particularly futile waste of time. He'd tried asking Ruby what she meant by 'hanging out' but got a rather inconclusive 'I dunno, I just kinda make it up as I go' in response. Which left Cardin in a bit of a predicament in that he had no idea if he would need to dress for cold or warm or if they would be doing something athletic or not. As a child, Cardin would just throw on whatever he picked out first and endure half an hour of his mother hassling him about 'dressing nicely' and making sure he was 'prepared for anything' to a chorus of 'okays, yeps and fine'. He remembered hating it at the time, but there was nothing he wouldn't give up to have that back.

"_**Don't think about that, just focus…ah screw it."**_

Giving up any and all hope of picking an a hundred percent appropriate attire, he just picked out a worn out tracksuit and an old pair of sneakers before leaving his teammates, the trio talking about 'Gibbering Mouthers' and other such things.

Ruby and Jaune stood near the airship heading for Vale, sipping from containers of Udder Satisfaction and Orange juice respectively, the two waiting for Cardin. The two were watching a plane create a message in the sky, taking interest as it slowly created each word and hypnotised by the oddly soothing turns and twists the plane made and raised an eyebrow each as the planes final message spelt out a commercial for People love Grapes, consisting of nothing other than the brand name itself.

"_Yep." _Jaune said in agreement with the ad.

"_Yep." _Ruby said in agreement with Jaune.

"_Mhmm…" _Jaune said, acknowledging Ruby's agreement.

The two stood there in silence, before bursting into a fit of uncontrollable giggling that ended with Jaune doubled over and Ruby rolling around on the floor, the two crying a little from laughing so hard. Both of them didn't know _why _they were laughing, but this wasn't the first time this had occurred. Perhaps it was just that the two, being so close friends, could find humour in just about anything when in each other's company.

Jaune's bright attitude faded a little, however, when he spotted Cardin walking towards them in the distance.

"_Are you _sure _he's nice now?"_

"_Yeah, anyone who gives me strawberries can't be too bad!" _the scythe-wielder said optimistically.

"_Ruby, the _White Fang _could give you strawberries and you'd say they 'weren't as bad as most people think they are'."_

"_Probably. But who cares? Strawberries!" _she said excitedly, drawing out another fit of chuckles from Jaune.

"_C'mon Jaune, trust me on this. I promised not to tell people about the cheese wheel incident."_

The mere mentioning of that unfortunate afternoon was enough to make the blonde blanch. As Cardin drew closer, Jaune could feel his unease building. But he trusted Ruby and Ruby trusted Cardin, so he couldn't be too bad anymore, right?

"_Ruby. Jaune." _Cardin said nervously, fearing that he would be shunned or treated as a third-wheel.

"_Heeeeeey Cardin."_ Was Jaune's equally nervous reply. The two extended a hand to the other, Jaune going for a fist bump and Cardin for a handshake. The two realised that they had messed up, and spent a few seconds awkwardly adjusting their hands until they settled for patting each other on the shoulder.

"_Aww come on! That's it!" _Ruby said incredulously. _"That is not how we're gonna start this off! Now I command you, as Queen of the Vales, to hug it out!"_

Jaune and Cardin gave Ruby a weird look and each other an uneasy one. Jaune started kicking pebbles on the path while Cardin took a particularly fascinated interest in the clouds above them

"_Hug. It. Out." _Ruby commanded, gently nudging the two together. Unwilling to protest, the two uneasily wrapped their arms around each other and tensed up. After about twenty seconds however, their unease faded away and the two felt strangely satisfied by the experience at which point they pulled apart.

"_Their. Was that so hard?" _Ruby asked, receiving muffled no's in response.

"_Good." _She said, walking up to the two and standing on the tips of her toes. _"Now kiss." _She said, half-heartedly pushing their heads together.

"_Oh God no!"_

"_Not even once!"_

The two backpedalled quickly, Cardin stumbling over his feet and falling onto his back while trying to get away and Jaune ran off the path and hid behind a tree. Ruby was laughing so hard a their reactions that she wasn't even making noise, just a strangled exhaling noise. Jaune walked up to Cardin and helped him off the ground, leaning in close to whisper something in his ear.

"_She's really ticklish." _He said, a vengeful smirk on his face. Cardin nodded and the two began their assault.

"_What are yo- no please, AHAHAHAHA! No, stop, I surrender Pfftheheheeh!"_

The two spent a few moments basking in the glory of their victory before sharing a fist bump while Ruby recovered from the 'deadly' assault.

"_Well…we'd better get going…the plane will leave soon." _Ruby said, still somewhat out of breath. The leaders of RWBY and JNPR walked towards the ramp, leaving Cardin behind to wonder whether or not this was just an elaborate prank to get back at him or something similarly Machiavellian.

"_C'mon Cardin! We're gonna miss the flight!"_

At least one thing was for sure; if this was fake, Cardin wasn't sure he wanted to live in the real world.

* * *

><p><strong>-Yes, it was short even though I promised it would be longer. Yes, high school is no excuse and yes, I'm a terrible person. Now excuse me while I go self-flagellate in the corner.<strong>

**-Gibbering Mouthers are an actual monster taken from the 5E Dungeons and Dragons monster manual, and rather horrific ones at that. Anything D&D that crops up isn't just a token reference, I know what I'm talking about XD**

**And again, thanks for the 100/100/100! It feels amazing to reach this for the first time!**


	14. Price of Redemption- You Fool

**This is a really short one. Sorry…**

* * *

><p><em>"Wow. When you said you weren't good with flying, you were<em> not_ exaggerating."_

_"Really? I hadn't noticed…"_

The two boys were standing around a trash can. Well, one was standing and the other was hunched over and bent at the knees, but that was beside the point. This wasn't helped by the fact that Ruby seemed awfully insistent on leaving the two by themselves to make awkward small talk. Where was she now? Just outside the main room, gazing not so subtly around the door frame to see where the conversation was going.

_**"I see you Ruby. You and your schemes…"**_

_"Urgh, kill me…"_

To see the goofy, upbeat Jaune acting so miserable and melodramatic about his current predicament was a little unnerving, especially considering that he'd been fine at the start of this little get-together. Cardin looked on, having absolutely no idea how to proceed or help the blonde.

_"Um, is there anything I can, I dunno, do to help…?"_

_"Could you please get some water? My throat's starting to burn..."_

The ginger nodded and started walking towards the 'kitchen' of the ship, even though it was more of a kitchen sink and several vending machines. Luckily, he had barely walked past the door before Ruby shoved a glass of water into his chest.

_"You're not very subtle, are you?"_

_"Nope!"_

And that was the only response he managed to get out of the scythe-wielder before he was turned around and shoved back into the room. Cardin turned to glare at Ruby, but she seemed unaware of his discomfort and gave him thumbs up.

_"That was quick…"_

Jaune was looking up at Cardin with sunken and miserable eyes, his stare leaving the ginger with an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.

_"Yeah, well...you know, I'm pretty quick without my armour on."_

The blonde looked at him skeptically but didn't force the matter. Jaune took the glass from Cardin's hand and drank the whole thing within seconds.

_"Urgh, thanks."_

_"Feeling better?"_

_"Yeah, I think I'll be fine now."_

_"Hey guys, I'm back!" _Ruby announced enthusiastically as she rounded the corner. Jaune gave Ruby a weird look before burying his face back into the trash can.

_"Where did you go?"_

_"Oh. Uh, you know…places…"_

Before Jaune could continue his questioning, the hologram flickered to life next to them, showing an image of their pilot.

_"We'll be arriving at our destination in five minutes. I hope you enjoyed your flight."_

_"Alright, just five more mi-GAPIUVBERGAUAREBGP!"_

As soon as the trio walked off the ramp, Jaune fell unceremoniously to the ground and started kissing the gravel mockingly. Ruby and Cardin exchanged amused looks while Jaune mumbled about 'never leaving again' and 'the spawn of the devil'.

_"Is he always like this when he flies?"_

_"No. Sometimes he's actually worse. Remember that huge storm a week ago? Well, we were all in town when it hit. We almost had to rent a hotel because Jaune refused to get on the ship."_

_"Hah!"_

_"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Motion sickness is a serious problem you know!"_

_"Anyway, we've got a lot to do today, so let-"_

Ruby opened up the purse she was carrying with her but paled and froze for some reason that the two boys couldn't quite understand.

_"This is Yang's bag…"_

Jaune and Cardin's eyes widened in fear, they knew well how Yang could be when she was angry, albeit for different reasons.

_"And the plane's already taken off, so we can't go back and get mine. What are we going to do for money?"_

_"Calm down, we can make the money, we just need to be clever."_

Jaune said with a determined gleam in his eye.

_"There might be some sort of games we can win nearby. If we use Yang's money and win, we can come out with a net profit and she won't even notice."_

_"And if we lose all the money?"_

_"Well…then we're screwed. But I think it's worth the risk."_

Ruby and Cardin looked unsure of themselves, but Cardin eventually just shrugged and started to roll his shoulders.

_"Ah screw it. We're hunters! We can probably pull this off."_

And he followed up by saying the cursed word; the words that he signified doom and despair for many foolish mortal, words that had foreshadowed many a bad decision and terrible spell of luck.

_"I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"_


	15. Price of Redemption- Show Me Ya Moves

**I'm not dead! And neither is this story! Not that you'd know it from looking at my last update, but…eh, shit happened. I won't bore you with the details, so let's jump right into it!**

* * *

><p>"<em>And that's how I got an octopus stuck to my face." <em>Jaune said, trying to pry the animal of his forehead and eyes to no avail. Ruby meanwhile, being the good friend she was, rolled around on the floor laughing so hard her eyes started to tear up.

"_Erm, Ruby? A little help?"_

"_Ahahahaha! Okay, okay. Hang on to something."_

Jaune clutched a nearby bench while Ruby worked her fingers underneath the octopus' body. Breathing deeply to psych herself up, the scythe-wielder ready to use her semblance.

"_Alright. three, two, one, now!"_

Ruby darted back faster than the eye can see, pulling the octopus of Jaune's face with a loud pop and stumbling backwards until she bumped into a sushi stand.

"_Sorry!"_

"_Eh, it's no problem. Wait, are you gonna be needing that?"_ the chef asked while pointing at the still-squirming octopus in Ruby's hand. The Huntress-in-training shrugged and tossed the creature into his outstretched hands.

"_Uh, Ruby?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Your skin is green."_

Ruby looked at her hands and cringed as she stared at her lime green skin, remembering the exciting, embarrassing and quite frankly extraordinary set of events and coincidences that caused her change in pigmentation.

"_Yep."_

"_Can you tell me, uh, why your skin is green?"_

"_Nope." _Ruby said a little too quickly, her face flushed slightly.

"_Okay, whatever. Did you win any money?"_

"_Uh, you first…"  
><em>

"_Sadly no, you?"_

"_Erm, I actually owe Ozpin and Ms. Goodwitch five dollars each."_

Jaune stumbled over his words, wondering exactly how Ruby had managed to become indebted to the two teachers when they hadn't even gone back to Beacon.

"_Wha-but…never mind. Where's Cardin?"_

The two didn't have to wait long, as Cardin rounded the corner. And by God, it wasn't a pretty sight; his left eye was black and narrowed, perfectly mirror his right one, he was covered head-to-toe in deep scratches, his clothing was shredded and he was missing his left shoe.

"_I warned you!"_

"_Oh for f-"_

To their surprise and Cardin's frustration, an Atlesian scientist had followed the ginger. The scientist was an aged man with grey hair and an unkempt beard and carried what appeared to be a wooden staff. He also seemed very pleased with himself and was in the midst of gloating.

"_I warned you! But nooooo, you didn't listen to me! 'It's just a rabbit' he says! I always say! I always warn them, but they never lis-_

"_Oh _shut up_!"_

The scientist scowled viciously before disappearing in a puff of smoke and flame. Cardin pinched the bridge of his brow in frustration and traced one of the deeper cuts along his stomach.

"_Geez, what happened to you?"_

Cardin looked at Ruby's skin and the pucker marks all over Jaune's face and raised an eyebrow, but didn't bother questioning them.

"_I might tell you in a week, maybe a month. I'll probably look back on this moment in the years to come and laugh. But for now, I'm going to preserve what few scraps of dignity I have left and shut my goddamn mouth."_

"_Right. Did you get any money?"_

Cardin chuckled smugly and pulled out a rather thick envelope and flicked it at Ruby.

"_Did I ever! That should be about two grand."_

"_T-t-two grand? How did you get that?!" _Jaune asked, eyes wide with excitement.

"_Like I said, maybe next week."_

Jaune and Ruby exchanged puzzled glances, but chose not to pry, opting instead to get excited over the amount of money Cardin had manage to earn.

"_This is great! We'll have about eighteen hundred dollars to spend! What do you guys wanna do?"_

Cardin grabbed about two hundred dollars from Ruby and started walking off.

"_I'm gonna buy some band-aids…and some new clothes. Text me when you figured out where ya wanna go."_

Ruby and Jaune watched the ginger storm off, a noticeable limp in his left leg. The duo considered helping him, but the mace wielder was in a foul mood and would probably brush them off aggressively. Instead, the two hunters-in-training started stroking their imaginary facial hair while thinking of an activity that wouldn't be particularly exerting.

"_Bowling." _They both said simultaneously.

* * *

><p><em>*CRASH*<em>

The sound of balls knocking pins to the ground was like music to the ears of the two students as they tied up their bowling shoes and giggled mischievously to themselves. Jaune had gone ahead and found appropriately weighted balls for himself and Ruby, but little did Cardin know that Jaune had actually requested the heaviest one in the building for him. He even had to get a trolley to move the thing!

"_This is gonna be great!" _the silver eyed girl managed to wheeze out between laughs. The giggles only intensified as Cardin walked through the door as soon as she finished tying her own shoes. His deep blue eyes scanned through the lanes until he found his fellow leaders and started to limp in their direction.

"_Aren't those clothes a little too big for you?"_ Jaune asked as he saw that the ginger's new long-sleeved shirt and pants would make for a better fit for someone on the border of obesity.

"_Yeah, but everything else I found was way too small.__" _He responded, absent-mindedly plucking at the belt holding up his pants.

"_Fair enough. Anyway, you're up first."_

Cardin nodded and walked up to the alley and looked at the bowling balls present and, considering that one was yellow and the other as red, figured that that the pitch-black one was obviously meant for him. He moved to pick the ball up, but Ruby and Jaune started chuckling in a very unnerving manner.

"_What?"_

"_Nothing!" _the two responded simultaneously and a little too quickly to ease Cardin's mind. The ginger looked at the ball in front of him and chuckled lightly.

"_C'mon guys, what did ya do to it?"_

"_Use it and find out." _Ruby snickered, despite her best efforts to refrain from laughing. The mace-wielder narrowed his eyes suspiciously but decided to go with it anyway. Perhaps pranks were a hazing ritual of sorts or maybe they only did it on people they considered friends. Ruby and Jaune for their part, were either expecting him to fail to move it in any meaningful way or barely lift it and try to bowl anyway, with hilarious results.

What they did not expect him to do was pick the ball up without any apparent effort and knock down nine of the pins on his first bowl. Their jaws all but hit the ground as Cardin stood there, cursing his poor luck before walking down to the seats and waiting for the machine to return his ball.

"_I still don't know what you did to it…"_

"_Um, h-how was it?" _Jaune asked, still shocked by the ease with which Cardin lifted it.

"_What do ya mean?"_

"_You know, was it…heavy?"_

"_Oh. Well, it was actually a little light if I'm being honest. Do they have anything heavier?"_

"_Th-that was the heaviest they've got!"_

Cardin's eyes narrowed, as he stared at Jaune, obviously deep in thought. Eventually, he began to laugh so hard that he doubled over and started slapping his knee.

"_Ahahahahahahaha! Okay, I know what you were going for now. Seriously, did you guys really think that would work?"_

"_What's that supposed to mean?!" _Ruby huffed indignantly.

"_C'mon guys, you've seen my mace. Considering that I'm not using recoil or anything, just my strength to swing it. _And _that I can swing fast enough with it to deflect bullets…"_

Cardin picked up his ball, once again not even bothered by the weight and easily picked up the spare and took a moment to let out a very unsportsmanlike celebration before walking back and taking his seat and smirking confidently.

"_Yeah. That ball's a toothpick in comparison. You're up red."_

The silver-eyed girl winced rather aggressively at the nickname. The mace-wielder didn't understand why, but was polite enough not to pry into the matter. Cardin watched, to his great amusement, as Ruby took a step to far, slipped on the oiled-up alley and promptly threw a gutter ball.

"_Hey Cardin?" _Jaune asked quietly, voice full of hesitance.

"_Hmm?"_

"_How did you get so strong?"_

"_About six years of high-protein dieting and strength training."_

"_Oh..."_

The blonde looked off to the side with _that _look on his face. The one where his lips were set in a determined line, but his eyes were narrowed as if he were about to cry. Cardin remembered a time when he took a sadistic joy out of that look, but now it just made him feel uncomfortable.

"_Hey Jauney, listen to me. I'm gonna tell ya a little secret."_

JNPR's leader looked at him expectantly, looking slightly less dejected. Cardin sat up straight with a groan and stroked his face, trying to find the right words to explain his 'secret'.

"_Okay, listen. It really doesn't matter how strong you are. What matters is how you _apply_ that strength. Like, I could show you this trick where if you were to cup your hand and slap me in the ear, my eardrum would burst because of air pressure."_

"_Then why did you do the six years of whatever."_

"_Oh. Well, my favourite teacher used a mace, he offered me private tutoring and I had easy access to a gym at the time, one thing just kinda led to another. Besides, I think you'd be better off with a balanced fighting style."_

"_That's what Pyrrha keeps telling me…"_

"_Hmm."_

Cardin stared at the blonde, deeply consumed by his own thoughts. He was, however, vaguely aware that Ruby had managed to knock over somewhere around eight pins on her second bowl, so good on her for that.

"_**Hmm. What do…?"**_

It would be the right thing to do; he could spend more time with the blonde and hopefully get around whatever leftover distrust and resentment that Jaune had for him and besides, the ginger kinda owed him one for saving his life in Forever Falls. However, offering his services carried a rather high risk of getting his shit kicked in by his teammates. Even now, the blue-eyed boy could remember that almost predatory look Nora would give him whenever they were in eyesight of each other.

"_**Ah, screw it, might as well."**_

"_Hey Jaune."_

"_In a minute, I need to concentrate." _Jaune responded, moving up to the bowling alley and practicing the movements several times before letting go of the ball cautiously, causing the ball to roll forward at a _very_ slow pace.

"_Really?"_

"_I'll play the game at my own pace, thank you in "_

Cardin raised an eyebrow at Jaune's defensiveness and leaned back into his chair, arms folded, and watched the ball very slowly roll its way down the alley. Ruby managed to sit still for a whole two seconds before announcing that she was going to go get food and drinks.

"_**An arthritic, eighty year old could get to the other end of the alley faster than that ball."**_

Eventually, however, the ball made contact with the front pin and proceeded to knock down the rest of them for a strike.

"_Oh, you've gotta be shi-"_

"_Oh yeah! In your face Cardin!"  
><em>

"_Hehehe, alright, I was wrong."_

Jaune sat down and smiled triumphantly as the screen above them flashed a bright red X. The ginger took a moment to compose himself before turning to Jaune and prepared to offer his expertise.

"_Hey Jau-"_

"_Look what you've done you goddamn animal!"_

The two hunters-in-training looked over to the middle alley and saw a very irritated looking man with a sizeable stain on his shirt grabbing an owl Faunus by the wrist.

"_I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to!"_

"_Pfft! Yeah right! Maybe me and my boys here should teach ya some respect!"_

The other five men stood up and, although neither Cardin or Jaune could make out the fine details, they all appeared to be burly, tattooed men in their forties with unkempt facial hair. Cardin wouldn't be all that surprised if they perpetually smelled of cigarettes and alcohol.

"_Hey Cardin, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"_

"_The one on the left looks like a little like my dad?_

"_What?! No, we should-"_

"_Relax Jauney, I'm just bustin' ya chops. But yeah, let's do something about this."_

The two hunters-in-training walked over to the group of men, who had managed to incite a nervous breakdown in the young Faunus. Jaune cleared his throat, surprisingly managing to keep up a look of confidence as the ruffians stared at him with murder in their eyes.

"_Erm, listen. Do you think you guys could-"_

"_Whaddaya want pipsqueak?"_

"_Oh, erm…it's just-"_

"_Let him go."_

"_Yeah, that."_

The thugs started to exchange looks that varied from amused to insulted before taking a few steps forward each. Jaune looked a little nervous, but nevertheless stood his ground and stared up at the leader of the group. Cardin meanwhile, simply stood still, wishing that he'd brought his weapon with him.

"_What are you gonna do if we don't?"_

"_Then we'll have no choice but to make you"_

The ruffians looked to each other again before bursting out laughing, with some of the more obnoxious ones deliberately slapping their knees and not bothering to try and contain the specks of spit that flew out of their mouths.

"_Really? A pipsqueak like you and a guy who look like he just got hit by a truck are gonna stop us?! You guys couldn't beat a defanged puppy!"_

Once again, the biker gang wannabees laughed obnoxiously. Jaune stepped forward to confront the burly men but was held back as Cardin gripped his shoulder and shook his head.

"_Uh, Cardin?"_

Almost faster than the blonde's eye could follow, Cardin darted forth and shoved the leader into one of the others before stepping forward and delivering a vicious elbow into the rightmost one's temple, knocking him out. One of the two still standing charged forward, but Cardin sidestepped and slapped him in the ear with a cupped palm, causing him to fall to the ground and scream in pain. The scrawniest member of the group, terrified of how easily the mace-wielder had dispatched his friends, made no effort to defend himself as Cardin punched him in the solar plexus before tripping him up, leaving him winded and gasping for air. The ginger finished the very brief, very one-sided fight by turning to the two he knocked over at the start and stomping on their heads once each to knock them out.

"_Hrmph. Not so tough now, are ya?"_

The other bowlers immediately broke into cheers and applause once it was clear the thugs wouldn't be getting up. Cardin tried to play it cool at first but eventually allowed a big, goofy smile to spread across his face before bowing for the crowd. Cardin looked around the room at the approving and admiring faces and, for the first time in a while, knew what it was like to be accepted.

"_**I could get used to this…"**_

* * *

><p><strong>So what antics do you think the three got up to while trying to earn money? Put your ideas in a review and I'll announce the winners next chapter (Hopefully sometime before Volume 3 debuts...)!<strong>


	16. Price of Redemption-A Plan in Motion

**There are no words for how sorry I am about how long it took to update this, but my last laptop broke and I had to save up for a new one. The one that broke was a piece of crap that I bought as soon as soon as I could afford it and I wanted to buy one that would last this time and I'm proud to say that it's magnificent! It took me nine months to save up for it, but it's worth it!**

**Anyway, you didn't click on the story title to listen to me talk about what a lazy sh*t I am, you came here to read the story! Speaking of story by the way, one of the recent reviews mentioned wanting to see Ruby x Cardin. Apparently other people have also mentioned wanting to see them as a couple. I'm not opposed to the idea, but the original plan was for Ruby to be a little sister figure to Cardin (for...reasons). I can change my plans though, so it comes down to what you guys want. So lemme know what you guys would prefer and I'll write it.**

**I've also had some (aka a ****_lot_****) of time to think about what direction I want to take the story in, so excuse me while I take a break from Cardin getting dumped on by the universe to set up some plot stuff.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>"Another one?" <em>**Cinder thought to herself as yet another file was blocked by a multi-password requirement. While the virus had spread to all aspects of Beacon's computer network, the ability to access General Ironwood's own scroll and the wealth of Atlesian military secrets that came with it had been a surprising and very welcome addition to the numerous hacked devices available. The victory had been soured somewhat upon the discovery that the Atlesians weren't foolish to let every dirty secret of theirs be uncovered with a single stolen password, so some files in their network required multiple passwords to open based on rank. Some required multiple Spec Ops password and others required only a single Private. Numerous tests had a given password could open any file ranked lower than it's registered owners rank, which had allowed the fire-user to view almost any file she pleased, as only three so far had required multiple Executive passwords. Of course, that raised the question of what would require multiple Executive passwords when the aura-utilising AI had only required one. If only she could figure out a way to open those files, the thing she could do with such information...

The vibration of her scroll snapped the black-haired woman out of her reverie and informed her that she'd been sent a message. The lack of an ID or given number meant that it was from either Mercury, Emerald or Adam. Opening up the inbox and clicking on the new message, Cinder quickly read the text and found her curiosity piqued.

_**"Some of our men in Atlas were scouting for locations to build a new base of operations. They stumbled across a hidden Atlesian facility during their search and a quick reconnaissance revealed that security was composed of decorated Spec Ops units and state-of-the-art defense systems. Five of our best scouts gave up their lives for this information. We'd like to know what's inside. Co-ordinates are attached in the attachment."**_

The message was from Adam then. The Faunus had been sending many messages asking for information recently and the thought brought Cinder no small amount of satisfaction. Once she'd revealed the locations of several Atlesian listening posts and secret supply stores, the White Fang had become dependent on her for information regarding Atlesian targets. Of course, the black-haired woman had refused their requests at times, for the purpose of not giving them any illusions of who was in charge of their 'joint-operation' as Torchwick had called it. Still, the information had undoubtedly granted a significant amount of leverage over the White Fang leaders and would definitely keep them in check on the off chance that they decided to try and abandon the plan.

Still, it was undeniably strange for them to spend so much money on security for a base so far away from Atlas, considering the number of Grimm attacks it would be forced to repel. What could be worth such the risk? Was what they contained inside that much of a danger to the city? Cinder opened the search tab on her scroll and inputted the coordinates and found a very spartan entry for the base in question. The coordinates weren't listed, but that was the standard for base entries, likely to prevent any unauthorised individuals from actually tracking down the locations and getting themselves shot by a jumpy security guard. Looking for affiliated projects, the golden-eyed woman found that there was only one listed file named 'Project Samael'.

The project name was familiar to Cinder, as it was one of the three files that required multiple Executive passwords to open. Four to be exact, the highest number requirement thus far in her search. There was something else about the name that felt familiar, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it. Several moments passed by as she tried to recall why the name was so familiar aside from the password requirement before the realisation hit her. The black-haired woman opened up Ironwood's list of sent messages and the most recent message concerning the Project.

_**"If the White Fang has discovered the base, then the base is compromised. The Grimm will follow them soon enough and if a big enough horde gathers too close then consequences will be dire. Is Samael still inactive?"**_

_**"Understood Sir."**_

_**"Good. Move it to Hazard Containment near Mantle and be ready to terminate it at the earliest sign of activity."**_

_**"Yes Sir. Prepping Samael for relocation will take at least two weeks, but we'll make it our highest priority."**_

This 'Samael' was becoming more interesting by the minute. Perhaps it could be useful to her plans if she managed to acquire it. Checking the send date on the message, Cinder smirked as she realised that it'd been a mere three days since the message was sent. Quickly opening up a new draft in Ironwood's account, the fire-user set her scheme in motion.

_**"There's been a change of plans. White Fang activity has halted in the Vale region, so we're moving Samael to a lab within the Vale Kingdom temporarily. The preparations and transfer are to be carried out under radio silence, no communication is to be utilised, lest communication channels are compromised during the transfer. Lab coordinates are attached."**_

The golden-eyed woman didn't have to wait long for a response.

**_"Understood. Radio silence is in effect from hear-on-out."_**

Cinder's smirk widened at the message, glad to see that Atlesian forces were just as easily manipulated as ever. The poor things had been so conditioned to accept orders that they'd never doubt messages from a superior for a moment, especially from one so high up the ranks as General Ironwood. All she needed to do now was arrange a welcoming party with the White Fang and have Emerald arrange for the General's scroll to 'go missing' during his meeting with the Vale Councilmen in the city and wait for her plan to unfold.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry about the short chapter, I'm just doing something small to get back in the mood for writing after such a long absence. The next two will be much longer. I'm also going to go back into the older chapters and fix my mistakes, so there's that.<strong>


	17. What do guys?

**Hello all! Sorry that there's no chapter here, it's coming, but right now I have a few important issues to sort out.**

**First of all, by popular demand, we are now shipping Cardin and Ruby! Only one of the seven reviews (if I remember the numbers correctly) was against the decision, not to mention the 20-something PMs I got, all of which were in favour. So may the SS Rosechester sail smoothly and avoid crashing into rocks.**

**Second of all, ah...  
>I'll try not to spoil, but with the end of this volume, pretty much everything I had planned out thus far has been completely and irredeemably screwed over (except for the stuff with Project Samael, which probably benefits from everything that's happened). So this comes down to two things:<strong>

**-Following the main story. My original plan was to finish this with a nice, heart-warming moment in which Cardin actually redeems himself and then start a sequel that follows his and team CRDL's exploits through the main story. However, shit hit the fan way to quick and since I've already started writing for Volume 3, I don't think I can drag it out much longer. So would you guys rather I finish this up quickly and then start the sequel, or start following the story of the Volumes and have the redemption stuff as a sub-plot?**

**-Team CRDL. With the way everything has gone in Volume 3, I can't think of a way to have the other three members involved in the main plot that isn't incredibly contrived. I have no intentions of forgetting about them or (God forbid) killing them off, but I doubt I'll be able to work them into the main narrative in any significant way. So would you guys prefer that Cardin join Teams RWBY and JNPR in the main story while his Sky, Dove and Russel become side characters (showing up every now and then, but only in minor roles) or have the sequel focus on Team CRDL as a whole with RWBY and JNPR being the side characters (bearing in mind that focusing on Team CRDL will make the SS Rosechester ****_much_**** harder to write for)?**

**I'm also going back into the older chapters and editing them up by fixing grammatical errors and making slight changes to scenes and dialogue so that everyone will be more in-character, so I'll let you guys know how that's working out every now and then.**

**Anyway, I'll see you guys next chapter! **


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